


Changes

by Hester_Of_Ravenswood, TheLonelyDraconequus



Series: RWBY, but Pollination Style [1]
Category: RWBY
Genre: F/F, No Smut, No enabler, Relationships to be added - Freeform, Slow Burn, Surprise Pairing, Surprise relationships - Freeform, and legit no enabler ever, incest is grossest, like seriously there will be no smut, worst it gets is kissing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-11
Updated: 2020-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:26:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 44
Words: 53,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23100058
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hester_Of_Ravenswood/pseuds/Hester_Of_Ravenswood, https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheLonelyDraconequus/pseuds/TheLonelyDraconequus
Summary: Lately, our favorite team has started to notice some changes in their feelings for one another. Can team RWBY figure it out, or are they doomed to let their relationship slip between their fingers?Basically, I wanted some pollination (with NO DIRTY ENABLER) and I’m greedy, so I didn’t find enough on this website, so I made my own.
Relationships: Blake Belladonna/Ruby Rose, Blake Belladonna/Ruby Rose/Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna/Ruby Rose/Weiss Schnee/Yang Xiao Long, Blake Belladonna/Weiss Schnee, Blake Belladonna/Weiss Schnee/Yang Xiao Long, Blake Belladonna/Yang Xiao Long, Ruby Rose/Weiss Schnee, Weiss Schnee/Yang Xiao Long
Series: RWBY, but Pollination Style [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1661938
Comments: 178
Kudos: 266





	1. Changes

Team RWBY had always been especially close, though most people didn't think anything of it, rather than perhaps to comment that the girls were very sweet together.

But, as all things do, their relationship started to change. To evolve.

Yang started to be quieter at night to avoid frustrating Weiss during her studies.

Ruby started to avoid exceedingly loud noises to keep from harming Blake's sensitive ears.

Weiss created a large binder for notes, which she allowed her teammates to read through and add to it, in case any of them had missed a lesson (due to spacing out or distractions).

Blake had started to grab excess cookies for Ruby, who often had a sugar crash after battles she used her semblance or during long nights studying.

Little things shifted and the tapestry of their interwoven relationship was rewoven piece by piece, tightening the connections between them.

What used to be a gentle tap on the back to gain someone's attention turned into hands on shoulders. What used to be hesitant physical affection for tactical purposes (such as hand holding in battle to save someone's life), turned into Yang sprawled out in Weiss' lap. Ruby tackling Blake to surprise her, sending the pair tumbling onto the ground into a pile of limbs.

Occasional texts on scrolls turned into a constantly active group chat, filled with puns from Yang and disappointment from Weiss.

Weiss borrowed one of Blake's books, and the two had started an impromptu book club and recommendation.

Various articles of clothing started to be randomly exchanged on accident, but slowly became more purposeful. Blake, being the only one that wore sweatshirts big enough for the entire team, suddenly discovered she couldn't find her jackets, and had even bought more after having thought she'd lost it. She hadn't realized what had happened until she noticed Ruby wearing a comically large sweatshirt, which almost reached down to her knees.

Mandatory team bonding nights slowly disappeared as the girls started to discover they preferred to spend time with each other, rather than being alone or with other friends.

Their first movie night, each teammate had staked claim to a separate spot of the room. But in the most recent one, the four had ended up piled on top of one another on the couch.

Cold nights became Yang's favorite. Her semblance naturally radiated heat, which Ruby had noticed a few years prior, and her teammates had started to take advantage of that during those winter nights.

Notes were passed in class, even by the ever attentive Weiss, and hidden laughter was shared between the girls, confusing many of their neighbors.

Yang couldn't remember the last time she had hung out with her old friends, who she had started to lose touch with after the year started.

Weiss found it harder and harder to be frustrated by her teammates and their antics.

Ruby had always been highly food aggressive, but had started to split her hidden with her friends in class when they needed it.

In summary, things between the girls had shifted, but none of them had thought much of it.

Until the beginning of the second semester.


	2. Yang’s Realization

It wasn't a special day. In fact, it was an utterly, and perhaps sickeningly, normal day.

Yang sat in class, her eyes half closed and her chin resting on her hand as she stared at their professor, only half paying attention. Okay, maybe she was paying about 25% attention. 15% at least. She was bored, as anyone watching her would be able to tell, but that emotion would not last long (sadly for her).

A balled up piece of paper soared through the air, smacking the unsuspecting Yang in the face. She jumped comically, almost falling out of her chair in shock.

Yang stared unseeingly at the paper for a moment before wiping the sleep from her eyes. She grabbed the paper and uncrumpled it, reading the familiar writing quickly.

Wake up, read Blake's handwriting. Yang could tell it was her because of the slightly slanted, yet oddly neat, nature of the letters.

Yang smirked and flipped the paper over, writing back in her messy scrawl.

When Professor Port turned back around, Yang whipped her arm back, launching the paper straight at a distracted Blake's head. Yang grinned, sure that the paper would strike her friend in the side of the face.

Just before it could, Blake's hand shot up, snatching the paper out of the air. Yang rolled her eyes sufferingly. Of course. Of course she caught it.

Blake unfurled the paper quietly, her amber eyes flickering back and forth to read what Yang had written.

I wasn't asleep! I was just... resting my eyes.

Blake glanced up, raising an eyebrow and smirking slightly. Yang found herself suddenly entranced. Blake stared back at Yang for a moment before her eyes shot away, watching their teacher as he continued to almost teleport around the room.

Yang, however, found herself unable to look away from the partner, though she had no idea why.

Blake was listening to their professor now and taking occasional notes, though she seemed slightly uninterested. Yang didn't hear a word Port said, her gaze still on Blake's face. There was a ripple of laughter through the classroom, though Yang didn't hear the reason for it, and Blake joined in.

Yang felt her heart stop.

Blake's eyes squinted just slightly as her cheeks crinkled up in joy, her amber eyes lighting up in amusement. She ran a hand through her hair, tucking a bit behind her ear and looking down almost shyly as the classroom started to turn silent once more. Blake tightened her grip on her pencil before glancing up, her eyes meeting Yang's.

Suddenly, Yang felt her chest constrict and her heart race. Blake waved slightly, looking a bit confused at Yang's rapt gaze, and Yang forced herself to wave back. Blake threw her the barest of smiles before turning her attention back to the front. Yang was left staring at her, suddenly faced with countless questions she wasn't sure she wanted the answers to.

Her face was burning, and if anyone had looked at her they would have noticed that it was also tinted a bright red color, and she could hear her heartbeat in her ears. What was wrong with her?

Yang found herself unable to draw her eyes from her partner, and only realized that class had ended when Blake stood up and made her way toward her.

"You alright, Yang? You seemed a bit distracted," Blake said.

Yang almost jumped, but forced her typical smirk back onto her face.

"Well, it's hard not to be in this class," she said.

Ruby grinned and agreed, which made Weiss slap her on the arm.

"Both of you are lost causes!" Weiss said, though she had a small smirk on her face. Yang wouldn't have recognized it if she hadn't known the Ice Queen for an entire semester.

Yang grinned, stretching and popping her back loudly. Ruby looked at her in horror.

"Yeah, yeah. What's new?"

The four made their way toward their dorm room, Yang lost in her thoughts while the other four talked in front of her.

Yang was trying to figure out what was wrong with her.

She thought about her Blake-induced trance in class for almost five minutes before it struck her what was happening.

She froze mid-step.

No, she thought, eyes wide.

But, deep down, she knew it was true.

Yang had frozen in the doorway, which caused her three teammates to turn around and look at her in confusion.

"Yang? Are you alright?" Ruby asked, taking a step toward her sister worryingly.

Yang snapped out of her shock and glanced down at her sister.

"I, uh, I forgot I have... something to do."

Yang turned and hurried out of the room.

She knew that was anything but smooth, but who could blame her? She'd just realized she had, not just a regular crush, but a giant crush on her partner.

How had she not figured this out before?! How long had this been going on?!

Yang had no idea, but she knew that this spelled out trouble.

Huge trouble.


	3. Ruby’s Realization

Today had been a great day! It had beginning of their second semester of their first year, and Ruby couldn't wait to get started!

But, for some reason, her sister seems very distracted and not at all as enthused as Ruby, which was a large surprise to the younger of the two.

"Ruby, pay attention," Weiss chided, smacking her hand lightly with her pencil.

Ruby jumped and turned her attention back to her homework reluctantly. Who assigns homework on the first day of a semester?! Ruby sighed and picked up her own pencil again.

"Sorry, where were we?" she asked.

"Question one," Weiss said, her eyes narrowed.

Blake, from across the table, let out a quiet scoff.

"She made it further than I expected," Weiss said, encouraged by Blake's amusement.

Ruby huffed, but didn't let the teasing damper her mood.

The three worked through their paper for about ten minutes before Ruby had had enough.

"I'm going to go check on Yang. Wait for me?" she asked hopefully.

Weiss huffed, crossing her arms.

"Do you want me to go instead? I'm almost finished," Blake offered, noticing Weiss' frustration.

"No, I have a feeling this is a sister thing. I promise I'll be back soon!"

"Ruby, wait a second-" Weiss was cut off by Ruby's semblance, which caused a great gust of wind that knocked several pieces of paper off the table.

Weiss looked like she was ready to say a few choice words, but a small chuckle from Blake halted her.

She glanced at her teammate, her mind suddenly whirling as the two started to clean up.

Ruby raced down the hallway, almost knocking into several people on her way.

She circled several spots that Yang normally enjoyed (including the pool, the gym, the sparring room, and the cafeteria) before she found her sister on the roof, sitting there with a slightly frustrated look on her face.

Ruby stopped suddenly, about a foot from Yang, and almost fell over at the sudden freezing.

"Rubes?" Yang asked in surprise, setting a strong hand on Ruby's shoulder to stop the other girl from teetering over and falling onto her.

"Yang!"

"What are you doing here?"

"I was worried about you," Ruby said, scuffing her foot against the ground and feeling slightly awkward.

Yang rolled her eyes, smirking just slightly. "I'm fine. Why don't you go back to the room?"

"Not before you tell me what's wrong!" she said.

Yang internally cursed. This was Ruby's dedicated face.

"Nothing's wrong, Rubes."

"Don't lie to me."

Yang huffed, shaking her head with a mix of fondness and exasperation.

"If you tell anyone about this, I'll have to kill you, sister or not."

Ruby rolled her eyes. This was certainly not the first time that Yang had threatened her like this.

"Just tell me!" Ruby said enthusiastically. She was always excited to hear her big sister's secrets (only partly because she could use them as blackmail later).

"I...," Yang sighed and rubbed her face with her hands, "I think I have a crush on Blake."

Whatever Ruby had been expected (which were along the lines of stealing Nora's secret stash of sweets again or maybe having a new prank idea to torment Weiss with), this was certainly not it.

After a solid minute of processing, Ruby let out an excited squeak.

"Really?! This is amazing!"

Yang stared at her.

"You two are going to be so great for one another-WAIT!"

Yang would have been shocked by the sudden change in mood if she wasn't expecting it from her little sister.

"You think?"

Yang sighed.

"I mean... I just figured it out about fifteen minutes ago."

Ruby took a seat on the bench beside Yang and swiveled to face her sister.

"Then tell me about her."

"What?" Yang asked, frowning in confusion.

"If you think you have a crush on her, tell me how she makes you feel!"

Yang's face reddened slightly.

"Ruby, this is stupid."

"Or is it the most brilliant thing you've ever heard?!"

Yang took a moment to consider.

"Nope."

"Either way, we're doing it."

Yang rolled her eyes, but nodded anyways.

"So, tell me about her!" Ruby said, clapping her hands enthusiastically.

"Well... she's... not exactly my type, or at least I didn't think she was-"

"Because she's a girl?" Ruby jumped in.

Yang blushed, glaring at her sister.

"What? No. I mean, yes, that was a surprise, but that wasn't what I meant... I mean, she's just so... opposite of me. She's quiet and collected, but I'm loud and a bit of a mess."

Ruby looked like she wanted to agree with that last statement, but Yang didn't give her the chance.

"But... that doesn't really matter. If anything, I think it makes me... like her more. And she makes me feel all of those... cliche romantic feelings. Just like those stupid romance books she reads."

Ruby motioned for her to continue.

"The warmth in my chest, the butterflies...," Yang sighed, her face red as she looked away from her sister, "I like watching her smile and laugh, and I get jitters whenever she touches me."

Yang glanced at her sister, waiting for the taunting that would undoubtedly come, but Ruby just stared at her with a confused frown.

"Yang, that's just a best friends thing."

Yang gaped at her.

"No it isn't!" she said defensively.

"Uh, yeah it is! Because that's how I always feel around Weiss," Ruby said.

Yang stared at her sister.

"Ruby... do you have a crush on Weiss?"

"What? No, of course not-"

Ruby's eyes widened comically.

Yang watched her, trying her hardest not to laugh.

"Oh gosh. I have a crush on Weiss," she moaned a moment later.

Yang lost it, collapsing into loud snickers.

Ruby watched her a moment before she started to giggle.

"We're a mess," Yang said when she said finally gained her composure.

"Such a mess," Ruby agreed, wiping at her eyes.

The two sat in silence for a long moment, both thinking about their respective partners, before Yang groaned and stood.

"Come on, Rubes, they're probably waiting for us."

Ruby moaned.

"I don't want to go backkkk."

Yang grabbed her by the hood and picked her up.

"We have to."

Ruby complained the entire way back while Yang carried her.

Yes, they certainly were a mess.


	4. Weiss’ Realization(s)

Blake and Weiss finished cleaning up the papers that Ruby had strewn over the floor during her departure and were now working on their homework.

"What do you think has them so upset?" Weiss asked, glancing at the door.

Blake shrugged.

"I wouldn't worry about it. Last time they started acting like this, they were planning on pranking Nora. I wouldn't worry."

"To be fair, Ruby was trying to stop Yang," Weiss defended.

"For all of five minutes, and then she was in," Blake said, smiling thinly.

Weiss nodded, trying to contain her own grin.

"You're right. I shouldn't fret."

Blake nodded before turning back to her book.

Weiss found herself distracted by the other girl, watching as her eyes flickered over her novel at speeds Weiss had never seen. Her bow twitched slightly, and Weiss' heart stopped. She had almost been able to forget about what she'd learned at the end of their last semester, but the small movement was more than enough of a reminder for the heiress.

Blake was a Faunus. And an ex-member of the White Fang. And she was sitting right beside Weiss. As in Weiss Schnee, Heiress to the Schnee Dust Company.

The other girl didn't seem the least bit on guard, which made Weiss' heart swell almost painfully, and was instead enraptured by her book.

Weiss' eyes shot to the bow for a moment, and then to the other girl's face.

"Does that ever hurt your ears?"

Weiss' eyes widened and she cursed internally. She couldn't believe she'd actually asked that. Ruby and Yang's impulsiveness must have been rubbing off on her.

"What?" Blake asked, her voice sounding strained and more than a bit uncomfortable.

"I, uh, forget I said anything," Weiss said, ducking her head and feeling her cheeks burn. She cursed her pale skin that sported her blush on full display.

Blake gently closed her book.

"Sometimes. Especially in the mornings after I've slept in it."

Weiss nodded. She hadn't even considered the other girl sleeping in the article of clothing.

"Well...," Weiss took a deep breath and forced herself to meet the other girl's hesitant gaze, "you don't need to wear it in the room. That is, if you don't want to, I mean-"

Blake set a gentle hand on Weiss' hand to stop it from shifting awkwardly.

"That's... really sweet, Weiss. But with the windows open-"

Weiss stood, feeling the oddest sense of loss as her hand slipped from Blake's grasp, and swiftly pulled the curtains closed.

"You don't have to do this, Weiss. I know how you feel about...," Blake trailed off, looking away.

"Blake, you're my teammate. Your comfort is more than a priority. It's a necessity."

Blake stared at her, and for a long moment there was a sort of tension in the air between them.

The other girl gave Weiss a hesitant, almost shy, smile before her hand slipped into her hair and removed the bow.

The heiress' eyes shot to the top of Blake's head, watching intently as two small cat ears suddenly appeared.

Her first thought was that Ruby was right. They really were adorable.

Blake quickly turned back to her book, leaving Weiss to stare at her with a bright pink tint to her face.

After a long moment, Weiss was able to force herself back to the table where the other girl sat.

Blake glanced up and watched her from the corner of her eyes for a moment.

"Thank you, Weiss," she whispered before forcing her attention back to her book.

Weiss found herself at a loss for words.

Her heart was racing, and she found her gaze continually being drawn to the small cat ears on the top of Blake's head.

For someone who had been raised to hate Faunus, she found herself undeniably, and inexplicably, enraptured by them. They were adorable!

And the small, yet wholly grateful, look that Blake had given her had made Weiss' heart almost stop. It was adorable too. Blake was adorable.

Her pulse was elevated, so much so that she thought it would have been lower had she just gone for a mile run, and her hands were inexplicably sweaty. Her face felt hot, and her breathing was almost painful. Either she was having a panic attack...

Or she had some very non-platonic feelings for her teammate and friend.

Upon deeper introspection, Weiss was starting to think it just might have been both.

Her mind was a whirlwind of thoughts and confusion and frustration...

Just last week, she had seen Faunus as barely more than animals (and certainly not to be trusted)... and now not only did she have a teammate and friend who was a former member of the WHITE FANG, but... she had a crush on her.

Weiss Schnee had a crush on a former member of the White Fang.

It sounded like a poorly thought out joke.

The door creaked and Weiss jumped, nearly falling out of her chair.

Yang and Ruby came through the doorway, the former smirking in her typical playful way while the latter was fidgeting.

"Miss me?" Yang asked, dropping into the chair across from Blake.

"Hardly,"Weiss said, attempting to gain her composure once again. It didn't help that she could hear a slight shake in her voice.

Maybe I'm just overreacting. I couldn't have a crush on Blake. Of course not! First of all, she's a girl, and I have never had a crush on another girl! Second of all, I like Neptune, not Blake! This is just a silly misunderstanding.

"Woah, Blake! Are you not wearing your bow?" Yang asked, her eyes locked on the other girl's head.

Blake looked down for a moment before her eyes flashed to Weiss.

She gave her that sweet, heart stopping smile.

"No, I don't think I'll be wearing it in the room anymore. If that's alright with you and Ruby."

"If it's alright?! That's awesome, Blake! Good for you!" Yang said, her eyes locked on her partner with an enthusiastic expression.

Ruby was practically shaking with excitement.

"They're so cute!" she said again.

Blake's face was a bit red and she rolled her eyes.

Her gaze once again met Weiss', and she subtly moved a hand under the table.

A moment later, Weiss gasped quietly as another set of fingers threaded through her own, giving them a tight squeeze.

Weiss' head felt light and dizzy.

Nope. She definitely wasn't making this up. Not making it up at all. She definitely had a crush on Blake.

She had a crush on Blake's determination, on her calm demeanor that mediated the rest of them, on her kind helpfulness, her almost unsure nature. But it was more than that. Blake was more than the sum of her parts, and Weiss' crush on her was more than the sum of its reasons. Weiss had a crush on her for everything she was. Even her jittery nature, her secrecy, and her tendency to go overboard made Weiss like her even more.

"Hey, Partner, mind giving me a hand on this?" Yang asked hopefully, waving her homework in front of Blake.

The other girl rolled her eyes and leaned closer to Yang, eyeing her paper.

"Did you pay any attention in class?" Blake asked.

Yang just grinned cheekily at her.

Blake sighed and removed her hand from Weiss, which made the heiress sigh gently and cast Yang a small glare while Blake moved over to help her.

Ruby waved her hand at Weiss to get her attention.

The heiress was surprised to find an almost sheepish look on the younger girl's face.

Weiss sighed an scooted her own chair closer to the other girl's and preparing to help her with Professor Port's homework.

Ruby was jittery and didn't speak much, instead listening attentively to Weiss. Almost as if she was a good student for once. Weiss was surprised, and she found herself missing the usual excited nature of her partner and friend.

She had always found unrelenting enthusiasm and excitement annoying, but Weiss now found herself missing the normal Ruby. The Ruby that had only ever wanted to be friends, even when Weiss had been mean to her. The Ruby that had always poured her heart and soul into her Huntress training. The Ruby that wanted to help others, even to the detriment and endangerment of herself. The Ruby that always seemed to shine with almost puppy-like excitement, even in the darkest of times. Even childish Ruby. Weiss only found the awkward and silent Ruby now, and it upset her.

The two worked through the homework almost silently, and Weiss could barely get the other girl to speak.

When they finished, Ruby quietly excused herself and hurried back to her bed, setting down her backpack where she usually did, right beside Weiss' own bed.

Ruby was about to climb onto the bed when Weiss groaned and stomped over, glaring at the other girl.

"What's going on with you?" she demanded.

Ruby jumped, seeming as if she hadn't noticed the heiress approach her.

"What?! Nothing!"

"Ruby, you might possibly be the worst liar I have ever met."

Ruby gave her a sheepish smile and looked away.

"It's nothing important, Weiss."

The older girl was about to push her on the subject, but Ruby turned to her with her biggest smile.

It was almost blinding.

"Thank you for checking on me though, Weiss!" she said with her usual enthusiasm.

She hurried forward and tugged Weiss into a tight hug, pulling the other girl flush against her.

Weiss froze for a long moment before reaching her arms out hesitantly and wrapping her own arms around the other girl lightly.

She didn't need to look at Ruby to see the other girl's excitement at her reciprocation of the affection.

Weiss' heart was racing and she could feel herself sweating, once again.

When Ruby pulled away, Weiss felt her heart sink, her body feeling cold all of the sudden. Weiss had always been cold by nature, but until now she had never felt as if she was lacking something because of her typical temperature. Like there was someone who was supposed to fit right in her arms and warm her up.

Ruby hopped back onto her bed and pulled out her scroll, immediately getting distracted by it.

Weiss didn't notice that Yang's own scroll lit up and the other girl picked it up almost immediately.

Weiss took a seat on her bed underneath where Ruby sat.

Weiss thought back to her hug with Ruby, and she realized something that made her freeze.

She... had a crush on Ruby?! What?! That didn't make any sense! Weiss had just determined that she had a crush on Blake of all people, so why would she be thinking that she had feelings for Ruby, now?! Her heart filled with hope. Maybe she didn't have a crush on either of them, and she'd just been overreacting...

But when she remembered Blake's hand clutching her own and Ruby's arms wrapped around her...

She was certain, unfortunately, of her feelings for Blake. But Ruby?!

She could, vaguely, understand her feelings for Blake. They were slightly similar and had a few of the same interests, despite their completely opposite young lives, but Ruby?!

Ruby was her exact opposite. Ruby was the summer to her winter, the dog to her cat, the up to her down, the excitement to her exasperation.

But when she saw Ruby smile that smile that could light up a room... when she saw Ruby clap her hands happily and get excited about her scythe... Weiss couldn't deny the warm feeling that grew in her chest.

Yes, she had feelings for Ruby, even though it was baffling and impossibleto explain to herself, much less anyone else.

Before Weiss could let it sink in just how entirely screwed she was, she found Yang's eyes on her, eyebrows raised.

"You alright there, Ice Queen?" she asked, grinning just slightly.

Weiss had never had the wish to flip someone off so much, but she contained herself.

"Don't call me that," she snapped.

Yang snickered and glanced up at her sister, smiling like a maniac.

"Well, if you need to talk or something...," Yang winked at Weiss before turning back to Blake, "I'm always here."

Weiss watched her work with wide eyes and a red face.

No. Oh no, no, no, no, no, NO NO PLEASE NO! Weiss practically screamed in her head. Don't tell me... not her too! I've already got two... three crushes?! How did this even happen to me?! Am I insane?! Is this even real?! Weiss thought, cradling her face in her hands.

Her mind was filled with images of Yang. Pictures of smiles and winks and finger guns and that horrible self-satisfied smirk she got when she made a pun. That last one made Weiss want to simultaneously strangle her to death and kiss that smug smirk off of her face.

But that wasn't the only thing Weiss liked about her.

She liked her passion, her flirtatious nature, how inexplicably good she was with Ruby (which was, perhaps, one of the most attractive things about her to Weiss), her comforting nature, her protectiveness, her hotheadedness... Weiss even liked that brashness and the impulsiveness of the other girl. That's how she knew she was screwed.

Weiss almost screamed.

How was this even possible?!

"I'm... going to talk to... Pyrrha. She wanted to...," Weiss floundered for a second before she snatched up her textbook beside her, "borrow my textbook."

"What happened to hers?" Yang asked, frowning.

"Nora ripped it."

"Sounds about right," Blake said.

Weiss hurried out of the dorm room and into the hallway. She let out a sigh of relief, but it was short lived.

"Tell Pyrrha I said hi!" Ruby called just before Weiss could close the door.

Weiss slammed it shut and turned, intent to go for a long walk, to find herself face to face with Pyrrha. Well, more like face to chest, considering the major height difference.

"You wanted to speak to me?" Pyrrha asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

Weiss groaned before she could stop herself.

Pyrrha gave her a confused look and set her hand on Weiss' shoulder.

"How about we go to my dorm?"

Weiss couldn't find the strength to stop herself from being gently guided to the JNPR dorm room.

Once inside, Weiss instantly regretted it.

"Weiss!" Jaune said in surprise, shooting off the bed and to his feet. At least, he tried to. It ended in him tumbling toward the ground, only to be saved last second by Ren.

"Weiss! Hey! Uh, what's," Jaune took a second to lean against the wall in an attempt to seem suave, "what's going on?"

Weiss half expected herself to suddenly realize she had feelings for this idiot, but the only feeling she got from him was frustration.

"Jaune, I really can't handle your flirting right now," she said, sounding tired as she leaned against the wall.

She expected to see Pyrrha stiffen, but the other girl just cast a measured look at Jaune, as if telling him to listen to what Weiss had said.

"It's... it's been a long day," Weiss said with a sufferingly groan.

"How about some girl time?" Pyrrha tried, hoping to get the other three teammates out of the room. She forgot to account for one variable.

"Yeah! Girl's night!" Nora cried enthusiastically, clapping her hands together and all but throwing Jaune and Ren out of the room.

Weiss wondered if she'd died and this was her punishment.


	5. Blake’s (Lack of a) Realization

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I STRONGLY headcanon that Blake is oblivious to emotions, and nobody can change my mind.

Blake wasn't sure what was going on with her teammates, but they were all acting weird.

Yang and Ruby were still texting one another on their scrolls about something, Yang was acting just a little off (barely enough for her to notice), Ruby had acted weird with Weiss when they were doing homework, and Weiss had pretty much ran from the room.

But Blake supposed that she was okay with that. She was alright with her friends being a little weird, as long as they were able to accept her for who she was. Her ear twitched, and Yang's eye shot to them, widening.

"Ruby, you were right, they are cute," she said.

Blake stared at the two sisters in surprise.

"I... uh, thanks?" she said, her face a bit red and her face very confused.

"You're welcome," Yang said, grinning.

Blake shook her head and turned back to her book, not noticing the two sisters as they spoke through their scrolls.

She had no idea what was going on with her entire team... and perhaps even herself.


	6. Awkward Conversations

Nora threw herself onto the bed and stared at Pyrrha and Weiss.

"So, what's going on?" she asked.

Pyrrha gestured to Weiss.

Weiss shook her head and laid down on Pyrrha's bed.

"I think I'm dropping out."

"What?!" the two other girls said in unison.

"That would be easier than this."

"Than what?!" Nora asked immediately, crawling across her bed and leaning over so that her face was close to Weiss'.

Weiss tested it for a second. Did she suddenly have feelings for Nora? She thought for a long moment. No, she certainly couldn't find any non-platonic feelings for the boisterous girl.

In fact, she even felt guilty that she had considered it, like she had betrayed her teammates. Sweet little Ruby, excitable Yang, calm Blake... she belatedly thought of Neptune.

But why should Weiss feel guilty?! She didn't betray them! She wasn't even in, like, a relationship with them! That thought made Weiss' heart sink heavily.

Weiss considered talking. She wished that only Pyrrha was here. She didn't know if she could trust Nora not to blab.

"If I tell you this, you both have to promise to never tell a soul what I said."

"Of course, Weiss," Pyrrha said instantly.

Nora nodded.

Weiss grabbed onto Nora by the shoulders and shook her.

"No one, ever. Not in thousand years."

"Okay, I promise!"

"Not even Ren."

There was a long moment of silence.

"I'll hold her to it, Weiss," Pyrrha said seriously, "but I doubt it can be as bad as you think it is."

"It definitely is."

Nora looked like she was about to explode with curiosity.

Pyrrha gave her a kind smile, and Weiss looked away with a bright pink tint to her face.

"Have either of you ever a crush...," Weiss paused and saw both girls nodding their heads with exasperation. Pyrrha was obviously about to ask if that was it, so Weiss forced herself to continued. "on more than one person."

Pyrrha stopped in her tracks and Nora's jaw dropped more than Weiss would have thought humanly possible.

"Nope, never," Nora said once she had gotten over her brief shock.

"No... I cannot say I have, Weiss," Pyrrha said gently.

"Wait... that means you have!" Nora said, always late to the punch (expect literally). "That you do! Who are they?!" she moved closer to Weiss and her voice grew louder and louder.

Pyrrha gently put a hand on Nora's shoulder, silently reminding her to keep her voice down.

"It... it doesn't matter who they are. This was a bad idea," Weiss said hurriedly, starting to stand.

Pyrrha stopped her.

"Weiss, wait. Just because we don't have any... personal experience doesn't mean we can't help," Pyrrha said slowly.

Weiss groaned. She wanted nothing more than to leave (well, she wasn't sure if that was true. She'd REALLY appreciate having two to three less crushes right about now), but she stopped herself. She didn't really have any other options, did she?

Nora huffed and sat back down, her posture as prim as always and her back straight.

"I know Neptune has to be one of them! Who else? Is it Sun? But I thought he liked Blake!" Nora said.

Weiss felt her chest constrict with jealousy at the last sentence, and she must have shown her displeasure.

"Oh? Oh!!! You're jealous that Sun likes Blake?" Nora guessed.

Weiss wondered if it would be better to lie and say she did have feelings for the annoying Faunus instead of the one that had really captured her heart.

"Nora, maybe you should stop guessing," Pyrrha said.

Weiss silently thanked her.

"But... is that why you're... upset?" Pyrrha asked gently.

Weiss groaned.

"Look, I just want to know how to get rid of these emotions," Weiss said.

The other girls exchanged a look.

"Weiss... these feelings can be hard to get rid of, if they're deep. But if these are just superficial attractions...," Pyrrha trailed off, and Weiss could tell she was referencing Neptune.

Weiss took a long moment to consider. We're these emotions... superficial?

Sure, she knew that the three of them were.... attractive (she was in denial, not blind), but these feelings for them were definitely more than about appearances. And she knew them too well for this to be an initial infatuation type for thing.

"No... it's definitely not superficial."

"Weiss, you're my friend, and I support you, but... you've only known Neptune for a few days, same with Sun, you totally ignore Jaune's attempts to flirt with you, and I haven't seen you talk to any other guy. Well, excluding Cardin and Ren, and it BETTER NOT be them," Nora said, looking a bit dangerous at the end.

Pyrrha was staring at Weiss, and she looked away.

"It's... it's not any of them, okay?"

Nora gaped at her.

"Then who are the two lucky guys?!"

Weiss wanted to run, but a gentle hand on her arm from Pyrrha quieted her.

"You promise not to tell anyone?" Weiss whispered.

"Yeah, yeah, just tell us!" Nora cried.

"It's... three... or four people... I don't know, I'm confused."

Nora gaped.

"I... I was sure I had feelings for Neptune until this morning. But I'm not so sure anymore. Because... ihaveacrushonrubyyangandblake."

Despite her rushed admission, the surprise on Pyrrha and Nora's faces showed that they had heard.

Weiss fidgeted.

"Well... that certainly sounds awkward! Having a crush on just one of your closest friends is difficult... not that I'd know anything about that!" Nora said hurriedly.

"I know!" Weiss frowned into her hands.

Pyrrha slowly put a hand on her back.

"I... really don't know what to say. Do you, perhaps, like one of them more than the others?" she asked.

Weiss scoffed and shook her head. She'd already thought about that.

"That sucks!" Nora cried, throwing herself onto her bed.

"You seem pretty screwed already, so I'll make sure to keep my mouth shut. Don't want to make you even more unlucky."

"Thanks, Nora," Weiss said sarcastically.

There was a knock on the door.

"Uh... can we come in now?" Jaune asked.

Weiss hurried out of the room only a little while later.

-

Yang: We are SO talking about this tomorrow

Ruby: Ik


	7. Week After

Weiss awoke and, for the briefest of moments, she forgot why she was stressed and anxious. Forgot about her... confusing thoughts and feelings. Forgot that said feelings were more than enough for her father to want to disown her and for more than half of society to deem her an outcast. But that moment ended when she saw Blake sitting up from across the room, calmly reading her book. With her bow off. That was enough to remind her.

Blake waved at her silently and Weiss forced herself to return the gesture before turning away. She needed a shower. She felt like she'd sweat more since discovering her feelings than she had in her entire life.

Ruby awoke to the sound of quick footsteps against the wooden floor, her eyes landing on Weiss just as she closed the door.

Ruby pushed herself up and glanced over at her sister, seeing that Yang was still out like a light.

The young team leader sighed and rubbed her eyes in an attempt to get the sleep out of them. It didn't work very well, and she was still distracted by the heiress, who seemed to plague her thoughts.

So, now she knew that she had feelings for Weiss... but how did she do anything with them?! She intended to ask Yang about that later this afternoon.

The morning passed as it always did, though with a somewhat peculiar acting Weiss, until breakfast, where Ruby found a very frustrating reminder.

Neptune existed. More specifically, Weiss seemed to be very interested in Neptune, and when he came to their table for an amicable, if somewhat flirtatious, conversation, Ruby found herself very annoyed.

"I was wondering if you'd like to come see a movie with me later this afternoon-" Neptune was cut off by Ruby.

"We have team training tonight."

"Maybe afterwards?" Neptune asked, not taking his flirtatious grin off of Weiss.

"I've got homework... maybe some other time," Weiss said.

Neptune nodded slowly and then flashed her his best grin.

"I'll hold you to that!" he called over his shoulder before he left.

Ruby couldn't help but feel smug and victorious, while Weiss felt slightly relieved. She certainly only had three crushes to deal with.

Dust, when had her life come to this? Being thankful that she only had feelings for THREE people. Honestly. What would her father think? Well... Weiss didn't exactly worry about that. But what would Winter think about this? That thought actually scared her.

Yang gave her sister a wide grin and a thumbs up from her seat next to Blake.

Their classes went about as one would expect.

Ruby was too excited and more than a bit awkward. Yang gave Blake her undivided attention (except when trying to help her sister). Weiss was confused, awkward, and quiet. Blake was just confused.

Thankfully, there wasn't any homework that night, which gave Yang and Ruby the opportunity to talk, which was sorely needed. Weiss tried to sneak out of the room to talk to Pyrrha and Nora, but Blake was able snatch her attention just before she left by asking a question about today's lessons, which led to a deep conversation about Faunus politics.

-

Two sisters sat on the roof of Beacon Academy, the wind gently blowing around them and the quiet sound of the constant bustle around the school.

"So... Weiss, huh? Why'd you pick her. So many options and you pick the stuck up princess," Yang said, smirking.

Ruby rolled her eyes.

"I don't know... she's got a tough exterior, but she's gentle inside. She's sweet, even though she tries to hide it. Weiss has the heart of a huntress, and she's been getting way better about showing how much she cares."

Yang laughed.

"Wow, Rubes, you almost made me see why you like her."

"What about Blake?"

"I told you about her yesterday."

"Tell me again. It's good to talk about it. It makes it easier."

"Since when did you become the big sister?" Yang asked, laughing.

"I've always been the big sister, you just never noticed."

The pair talked for almost an hour, and this pattern repeated for the next few days.

It led to a slightly less awkward, and even slightly flirtatious, Ruby (due to her sister's advice) and a very flirtatious Yang.

And Ruby found herself seeing a different side of Blake. She saw her gentle nature and her vast intelligence. Her quiet support and snarky sarcasm.

And Yang got to see Weiss in a new light. She saw an awkward heiress trying to connect with people and trying to change, to be a more understanding and open person. A gentle, even awkward, person underneath that tough exterior.

The sisters probably should have seen it coming, but they didn't.

Weiss only found herself falling more and more for her friends everyday that passed, and she couldn't find a way out of her predicament. She couldn't pick her favorite, and she couldn't hold an entire conversation with any of them without internally freaking out. But she thought that she was getting better about dealing with it. At the very least, the other three had stopped asking if she was feeling alright after the second day. Weiss thought that her conversations with the girls of team JNPR had helped, at least a little.

Blake wasn't sure what was happening with her teammates, but she was starting to enjoy the slight changes. Yang spent more time with her and even got along better with Weiss. Ruby started initiating more conversations and discussions with Blake, and even showing interest in her books (which thrilled Blake). And Weiss had even started having more conversations with her about Faunus relations, even apologizing for her previous statements about them.

All in all, things seemed to be, for the most part, getting better for each of them.

It was Monday of the second week of the semester when things, once again, began to go back downhill for team RWBY. Well, perhaps not the entire team, but certainly the two sisters.


	8. Realizations (2.0)

"Did you see Weiss today? She took out almost all of team CRDL."

"Yeah, I did! It was awesome!" Ruby joined in.

The two sisters talked about the fight for a few minutes before Ruby changed the topic.

"And Blake is getting even more comfortable with her bow off."

"What makes you say that?" Yang asked.

"She takes it off as soon as she gets to the dorm room, and she almost walked out without it this morning."

"Oh yeah! You had to remind her, didn't you?" Yang asked, leaning back on the bench they had claimed on the roof.

Ruby nodded, and the two continued discussing their teammates.

Ruby pointed out Weiss' new jacket, and Yang told her sister about how Blake had complimented her semblance earlier that morning. Yang told Ruby that she had noticed Weiss starting to become more affectionate, specifically with Blake (which had been happening ever since Blake had stopped wearing her bow). Ruby told Yang that Blake looked cute in her bow, but cuter without it.

It was that final comment that made Yang freeze.

That was... odd. Why would Ruby be talking about Blake like that when she liked Weiss. Was it because of Yang's feelings she had been telling Ruby about?

Yang thought of her own comments about Weiss. She had started to notice things that even Ruby hadn't. Was that... weird? Was it odd that she had started to give Weiss more attention, just like she had with Blake. She wondered if it was weird she had started to see the same things in the heiress that Ruby had.

Yang shook her head to clear it, and put those thoughts out of her mind.

The next morning, Monday morning, Yang and Ruby woke up late and had to hurry to breakfast to catch up with their teammates.

When they arrived, the pair noticed that Sun and Neptune were sitting on either side of Blake and Weiss.

Ruby made a beeline toward the first teammate she saw, squeezing her way in between Blake and Weiss, focusing on Sun, who looked like he was trying to do the classic fake-stretch-and-wrap-his-arm-around-her move. Ruby felt an odd, uncomfortable feeling in the pit of her stomach at the idea.

Ruby looped her arm around Blake's waist and moved closer. Blake seemed surprised, looking down at the youngest teammate. After a second, she gave her a small smile and turned to her food.

"Oh! Grab me a waffle, Blake!" Ruby said. The older girl complied, reaching past Sun and seeming to forget he was talking to her.

Ruby smirked smugly for a moment before giving Blake her typical kind smile.

She squeezed Blake with her arm and leaned against her, starting to wolf down the waffle with one hand.

After a few moments of indecision, Blake slowly set her arm around Ruby's shoulders.

As Ruby subtly stole Blake's attention from a frustrated Sun, Yang slid in beside Ruby and turned to Weiss.

The heiress noticed her presence immediately, and turned away from the flirting Neptune.

"Hello, Yang," she said formally.

Yang grabbed her hand, not noticing that it made Weiss blush a deep shade of red, and said "I need your help!"

Weiss tried to look unimpressed.

"With?"

"Proving that team RWBY is superior to JNPR."

"At?"

Nora launched a large piece of waffle at Yang, causing her to throw herself across Weiss to catch it in her mouth. She almost shoved Neptune off of the bench as she did so. Weiss didn't notice. She was distracted by the blond that was sprawled out in her lap, looking up at her with a wide grin.

Yang winked and Weiss forced herself to look away from the other girl.

Weiss almost missed the grape that was thrown at her face, turning just in time to catch the food that Pyrrha had gently tossed.

Yang cheered and pulled herself up into a sitting position.

"Way to go, Ice Queen!"

Blake and Ruby glanced at the other two members of their team.

They both grinned, Blake rolling her eyes fondly.

"Don't you want to join the game?" Blake asked.

"Nope! I'm good here!" Ruby said, squeezing Blake's waist playfully.

Blake found herself smiling. She'd been doing that a lot lately. More than she could ever remember having done so, even back before... the thought dampened her mood.

Ruby seemed to notice because she frowned and put her head on Blake's shoulder.

"Your team's here for you," she whispered in her ear.

Blake wondered how she could have ever thought she was in love with Adam. She hadn't even felt a hundredth of what she felt for any of her teammates for him, and these were her friends.

Blake let her head fall on top of Ruby's own.

Ruby finished up her morning waffles while Blake subtly reached across the table.

A distracted Nora didn't notice as Blake stole the pile of cookies she had grabbed.

The faunus shoved the food into a small brown bag in her backpack to be given to her team leader later in the day.

The warning bell rang, and team RWBY jumped in surprise.

Ruby shoved the last bit of waffles in her mouth while Yang gloated for having won her and Nora's impromptu competition.

As they left the cafeteria, Blake barely contained a laugh as Nora exclaimed, "Where'd my cookies go?!"

-

"Everything's going so well! Do you really think Weiss likes me?" Ruby asked, swinging her legs back and forth as she sat on her and Yang's bench on the roof.

Yang rolled her eyes.

"Yes, for the thousandth time, I think Weiss likes you, but we'll never know if you don't ask her."

"Okay...," Ruby took a moment to psych herself up, "I'm going to ask her out tomorrow."

Yang had a moment of internal panic.

"What? Tomorrow? Isn't that a bit... soon?"

"You're the one that said I should make my move!"

"Well, yeah. I just... didn't think you'd do it so soon."

"You told me to!"

Yang groaned, rubbing her face with her hand.

"I know what I said, Rubes."

Ruby stared at her, frowning.

"You know, you don't have to ask out Blake tomorrow too, right? Is that what's upsetting you?"

"No, nothing's upsetting me," Yang paused to consider, "but maybe I will ask out Blake tomorrow. We can both fess up together."

Ruby's stomach hurt.

"You really don't have to, Yang," she said quickly.

Yang raised an amused eyebrow.

"Something wrong with me telling Blake how I feel?" she questioned.

Ruby shook her head.

"No... I'm happy for you!"

"Rubes, you're the worst liar I have ever met."

Ruby flushed.

"I'm not lying!"

"What's wrong with me telling Blake?"

"What's wrong with me telling Weiss?!" Ruby countered defensively.

Yang grimaced slightly.

Her mind was filled with images of Ruby and Weiss on a date. Weiss would probably wear something formal and insist on going to a fancy dinner. Maybe a white or pale blue dress. Ruby didn't enjoy dressing up, so she would probably ask Yang for help, which would be awkward. Yang would see them off, have to threaten Weiss like every older sibling did, and pretend... that she was happy? That didn't make any sense! She wanted her sister to be happy! So... why did the idea of her and Weiss going out together make her feel... jealous?!

Ruby was trying not to imagine Yang asking out Blake. They'd have a casual dinner or two and suddenly they were in a solid relationship. They'd move in together at the end of their Huntress training. It would probably only be a few months before they got married, and then soon after they'd probably adopt a child or two. And Ruby could be the fun aunt that came around all the time, and she would be able to watch her sister and Blake grow old together. It would be so touching and sweet, and it was everything that Ruby had ever wanted for her. And yet... and yet the idea was sickening. Images flashed in her mind of a different wedding, with herself in Yang's place and herself raising a pair of children with Blake.

Ruby's face instantly dropped when she realized what she had been thinking.

"Yang!" she whined.

Her sister jumped, eyes shooting to her concerned sibling.

"I think...," Ruby trailed off and buried her head in her hands.

Yang shook her.

"Come on, you're my sister, you can tell me anything. I'm not going to judge you-"

"Ithinkihaveacrushonblake."

Yang froze for almost a minute.

"Yang, please say something," Ruby moaned.

The older sister cleared her throat awkwardly.

"As in... instead of Weiss."

Ruby shook her head quickly.

"So... you like both of our teammates?" Yang asked, her mind whirling.

Ruby nodded again.

"Well, sis, I never took you for a player."

"Shut up!" Ruby whined, slapping her sister on the arm.

Yang laughed, glad that some of the awkwardness had dissipated.

"I'm sorry," Ruby said quietly.

"Rubes, it'd be pretty hypocritical of me to be mad at you."

"What?"

"I didn't want you to ask out Weiss because... I was jealous," Yang said, rubbing the back on her neck awkwardly.

"You like them too?!" Ruby asked in disbelief.

"It seems like it."

Ruby groaned and leaned back, covering her eyes with her hands.

"We really are a mess."

"You said it."


	9. Frustrations

"So... I guess it's safe to say you're not asking Weiss out tomorrow,," Yang said, breaking the silence.

Ruby laughed, nodding.

"Definitely not."

"I mean, what would you even say? 'I really like you Weiss, but Blake's also super hot,'" Yang said, snickering.

Ruby swatted her arm.

"I wouldn't phrase it like that!" Ruby defended.

Yang rolled her eyes. "Sure you wouldn't."

There was a long, awkward silence.

"So, what's the plan, Rubes."

"Plan?!"

"Uh, yeah. How are we going to proceed?"

"There's... going to be proceeding?"

"Well, I assumed so! Are we going to fight it out?"

"Fight for what?!" Ruby cried.

"Blake and Weiss, idiot."

"Why would we fight over them?!"

"Because we both like them!" Yang responded.

Ruby stumbled over her thoughts as if they were a physical force.

"But... I wouldn't want to win? I mean, I wouldn't want to be with them if you had to be alone! Plus, it's not like me winning would automatically help me steal their hearts!" Ruby said hurriedly.

Yang grinned.

"Yeah, I assumed that wouldn't be the plan. I totally would have won, by the way."

"No way!"

"So... this doesn't creep you out, right?" Yang asked.

"Why would it? It's not our fault we fell for the coolest people in school."

"Great! So, how are we going to go about it?"

"About what?" Ruby asked, frowning deeply.

"Asking them out, Rubes!"

"Them?! As in... both of them? Both of us? All of us?"

"Uh, yeah."

Ruby stared at her and Yang scoffed.

"I don't know about you, but I'm not going to let this stop me! Sure, it'll definitely slow me down a bit, but you know me."

"You having feelings for both your teammates and you sharing those feelings with your sisters isn't enough to stop you?"

"No."

"That's awesome."

-

Blake stared out the window, her face contemplative.

Her thoughts were filled with images of the White Fang.

Weiss must have sensed her discomfort because she set a hand on Blake's shoulder.

"Want to talk about it?"

"Not really."

Weiss gave her a flat look, communicating, in no uncertain terms, that the question had been of the forced politeness kind, and that Blake was not going to get out of this conversation.

"You don't want to hear about my time with... them."

"No, I don't," Blake grimaced, "because it's a traumatic experience for you. But I want to be here for you."

Blake gave her a small smile, and was about to talk, when the door slammed open.

Weiss instantly moved closer to Blake, throwing herself in front of her sitting teammate and attempting to block her cat ears from view. It sent the pair tumbling onto the bed, prompting a deep blush from Weiss.

"Are we interrupting something?" Yang asked.

Weiss could hear the smirk in her voice.

She scrambled off of her teammate, glaring at Yang.

"What did I tell you about barging in?!" she snapped.

Ruby smiled sheepishly, nut Yang just laughed, throwing herself onto the bed beside Weiss.

"So, what are we talking about?" Yang asked.

"Terrorists," Blake said, voice monotone.

"Fun times," Yang said sarcastically.

"Yang!" Ruby hissed, slapping her on the arm.

A small smile from Blake made Ruby calm slightly.

"What about them?" Ruby asked.

"I wonder what they're planning."

"You think they're planning something?" Weiss asked, moving closer, "Why is that?"

"They're always planning something."

"If you're worried, then we should stake it out!" Ruby said excitedly.

Blake glanced at her, raising an eyebrow.

"And how do you expect to do that?" Weiss asked, raising a dubious eyebrow.

"I could go to a meeting," Blake said quietly.

The other three turned to face her.

"Are you... comfortable with that?" Yang asked quietly, her eyes turning concerned. Weiss internally screamed.

"I... yes. I am," Blake said, drawing strength from her team that surrounded her on the bed.

She briefly wondered how the four of them were able to fit on her bed in a big pile, but she dismissed the question.

"That's great, Blake!" Ruby said enthusiastically, bouncing up and down on the bed for a moment before throwing herself at her teammate for a hug.

Blake fell backwards in surprise, landing against a grinning Yang, who wrapped her arms around Blake's waist to steady her.

She didn't notice the two sisters share a small smile.

"We're all here for you, Blake," Weiss said, putting a comforting hand on Blake's arm.

Yang rolled her eyes at the heiress and pulled her into the embrace, making Weiss squeak in surprise.

"I'd go with, but I think I'd probably stand out," Yang said. She contemplated for a moment before grinning wildly. "I could put on little dog ears, if you want."

Blake stared at her, unamused.

Ruby struggled not to laugh.

In the brief moment of silence, Blake heard shuffling outside, and her ears picked up.

Her amber eyes shot to the window and narrowed, the hair on the back of her neck standing up straight.

"Someone's outside," she whispered, wondering if someone had been listening to the entire conversation. The thought chilled her to her core.

"Dang it," a voice said from outside. It was a familiar sound, but Blake couldn't exactly pinpoint who it was.

There was some scrambling outside before the window popped open. Sun's head poked in.

"Hey, Blake!" he said, eyes zeroing in on her.

She glared, gently, but swiftly, detaching herself from her teammates.

"I'm going to kill you."

Sun laughed until he saw the serious look in Blake's eyes.

He took a hurried step backwards as Blake approached.

Before she could make due on her promise, another form tumbled into the dorm room.

Neptune scrambled to his feet, clearly very upset that he had ruined his "cool" image, and cast a long grin at Weiss.

"Come here often?" he asked.

"What are you doing here?!" she snapped, hurrying to the window and slamming it shut, but not before checking to see if anyone had seen Blake without her bow. She was relieved to not find any gaping bystanders.

"I had a feeling you were planning something, and I was right!" Sun cried, brushing off his jacket and grinning widely.

"I want you to leave right now and forget everything you heard," Weiss said.

"Aw, come on! We could help!" Sun cried.

"We don't want your help," Yang said, bristling. She didn't enjoy having Sun and Neptune around Blake and Weiss respectively.

"Blake? Couldn't you use some help going to the White Fang meeting?" he asked, his eyes a little desperate.

Yang and Weiss internally cursed.

As much as they each wanted to get the boy away from Blake, they wanted to keep her safe more.

"Fine!" Ruby cracked first, looking down.

Her team sighed and agreed slowly, Blake being last.


	10. Preparations

"This is a bad idea."

"Tell me something I don't know, Ice Queen," Yang said.

The heiress glared at her.

"We should be doing this?"

"Someone scared to break a few rules?" Yang teased.

Weiss crossed her arms, huffing.

"Oh please, I've done nothing but break the rules since I met you idiots."

"That's probably mostly my fault," Blake said.

"Surprisingly? No," Weiss said dryly.

"I'm the reason we're going out tonight," the faunus pointed out.

"Don't feel bad about that, Blakey," Ruby said.

Blake glanced at her and smiled at the nickname.

There was a rustling from the closet and Blake picked her head up, frowning.

"Yang, what are you doing with my stuff?"

Yang froze as she pulled out a black jacket that was just a little big too small for her.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Yang said, even as she slipped the jacket on.

Weiss stared at the taller girl in shock while Blake tried not to laugh, instead settling for rolling her eyes fondly. Ruby was out right laughing now.

Blake considered for a moment before stealing a shirt from Yang's dresser.

Ruby pouted, causing Blake to frown.

"Ruby?"

"What's wrong with our clothes?" she asked, gesturing at herself and Weiss, who blushed at the inclusion.

"You're both too short," Yang said, laughing.

"Hey!" Weiss cried, glaring at her.

Ruby huffed and crossed her arms across her chest, clearly used to her sister's insults about her... vertical challenges.

Blake swatted Yang's arm and dropped the shirt.

"Well, do you have anything that isn't bright red?" Blake asked.

Ruby jumped to attention, grinning widely.

She all but teleported to her dresser and riffled through her things.

"Ahha!" she said excitedly, pulling out a pale white shirt and racing up to Blake.

"Here!"

"Thank you, Ruby," Blake said, moving toward the dorm's bathroom to change.

Yang grinned as she caught sight of the shirt. It was definitely too small for Blake, and she certainly wasn't going to complain

When Blake came back out, Ruby clapped her hands enthusiastically.

Weiss averted her gaze, clearly not wanting to become too distracted.

Yang wondered if Blake's small smile could be counted as flirtatious, or if that was wishful thinking on her part.

There was a chime, causing Blake to jump and pull her scroll from her pocket.

"Oh, dust, we're running late," she said.

Ruby supposed they must have all gotten distracted.

The four were about to leave when Weiss called for them to halt, hurrying toward Blake with her bow.

"I almost forgot," she said, twisting the fabric in her hands.

Suddenly, a small smile grew on her lips.

"Would you mind?" she asked.

Weiss froze, her gaze shooting from Blake's eyes to the bow to her ears and the back again.

Blake wondered if she had gone too far, had tested her luck just a little too much and upset the heiress. How could she forget that Weiss was a Schnee, and this was definitely pushing past the limits.

Just as Blake was about to apologize, Weiss huffed.

"Are you going to lean down, or am I going to have to grab a step stool?" she asked irritably.

Yang snickered, causing Weiss to glare at her vehemently.

Blake jumped slightly before nodding, leaning down slightly so that Weiss could reach the top of her head.

Weiss deftly tied the bow around her ears, her fingers brushing against them.

Blake tried not to remember the last person she had trusted to touch her cat ears while Weiss tried not to marvel at the softness of them.

"You two ready?" Yang asked, smirking.

They both seemed surprised at her sudden question, but nodded in affirmation.

"Good, because I'm pretty sure Neptune and Sun are going to be frustrated with how long it took for us to get there," Ruby said, throwing open the door.

The four hurried out of the building and toward the front of the academy, where they had agreed to meet up with Neptune and Sun.

Ruby's turned out to be correct, as the two boys asked what had taken them so long.

"What took so long?" Neptune asked.

"Doesn't matter," Yang said, grinning. "We're here now, aren't we?"

Sun's gaze was on Blake, his eyes not so focused on her face.

Ruby frowned at his expression.

"Nice shirt," he said, grinning slightly.

"Yeah, it is," Blake said, giving Ruby a small smile.

That instantly calmed the leader's mood, but Yang didn't seem so amused.

"So, what's the plan?" Sun asked excitedly.

"You're going with Blake to the White Fang meeting, I'm going with Weiss to the communications tower, and Yang's going with Neptune to the bar downtown," Ruby said.

Weiss panicked internally.

She needed to focus, and she wasn't entirely sure she could with Ruby and all of her... distracting feelings as of late.

"Maybe Neptune should come with me," she said, knowing it would be far easier to concentrate with.

Her teammates all glanced at her, and Yang quickly shot it down.

"Nah, I'm taking him with me. You and Rubes go to the communications tower. I'll keep him out of trouble."

Weiss groaned internally, but she nodded. She didn't notice the sad expression on Ruby's face.

"Come on, we have to go!" Ruby said, grabbing her partner's hand and tugging her toward the tower.

"You're coming with me," Yang said, sounding far less amicable than she had a moment ago as she drug Neptune away.

"How are we getting there? Isn't that place half way across town?" he asked.

Yang grinned.

"I've got a ride."

Sun latched onto Blake with his tail, pulling her closer to him as he grinned.

"Come on, we're already behind schedule!"

Blake glanced down at his tail, finding it rather awkward. She shoved it away from her, wondering why the other faunus had been so touchy lately. She didn't notice the slight disappointment on Sun's face.

Ruby hurried down the pathway with Weiss, tugging her behind her.

"Are you trying to tug my arm out of its socket?" Weiss asked irritably, trying to distract herself from her palm that was wrapped around Ruby's own.

Ruby slowed down to match Weiss' normal pace, groaning playfully.

"No, you'll probably need it later in case we get in a fight."

Weiss didn't comment, mostly because she wasn't sure if she could trust her own voice. Ruby wasn't pulling her along anymore, but instead walking at her side with their hands still interwoven together.

The two were almost to the communications tower when a form bumped into Ruby, causing her to fall to the ground, dragging Weiss after her.

Weiss let out a squeak as she tumbled over Ruby and landed right on top of her.

Ruby was smiling up at her with that innocent grin she always had, and Weiss scrambled to get off of her, face aflame.

She pulled her partner to her feet, and they were met with none other than-

"Penny?!" Ruby cried, staring at her friend in shock.

"Salutations, Friend Ruby!" the other girl said enthusiastically.

"Where have you been, I haven't seen you in a while!"

Penny suddenly looked awkward and worried as she moved away from Ruby.

"I've been busy. Actually, I have to go! Bye, Friend Ruby!"

She took off, which caused Ruby to stare at her retreating form in shock.

Ruby turned back to Weiss and bounced on the toes of her feet.

"Weiss, I'm really, really sorry, but I-"

Weiss sighed.

"I know, Ruby, I know," she said sufferingly, "just be-"

Ruby was gone.

"-Safe..."

Weiss shook her head and sighed, wondering why she even tried.

Her attention turned back to the communications tower.

She tried not to grimace. Today was going to be a long day, especially without Ruby there to distract her.


	11. Salutations

Neptune screamed into the wind, clutching onto Yang's waist tightly and trying not to get thrown off of the motorcycle.

Yang felt a grim sort of satisfaction at his terror.

Serves him right, she thought.

She knew it wasn't fair of her to be mad at him for flirting with Weiss, especially since she and the heiress weren't actually together, but it didn't stop her from scaring him just a bit.

He screamed again.

Okay, maybe scaring him a lot. But that thought just made Yang grin wider.

She almost regretted stopping when they reached the club, but was not disappointed when Neptune dizzily stumbled off the motorcycle, almost falling over.

The two headed into the club a little bit later, Yang intent on getting any information on shady people milling around Vale.

-

Ruby raced after her friend, thankful for her speed semblance.

"Penny, wait!" she cried, dodging and diving in between unsuspecting bystanders.

She tackled her friend, finding no give in the other girl and grimacing.

Dust, what is that girl made of? she thought idly.

"Is that her?" a voice asks.

"Yeah, I think it is!" another responded.

Penny's eyes widened and she gasped.

She took off immediately, and Ruby obviously gave chase.

Ruby races after Penny into the street, not noticing as a truck almost collides with her.

As a horn sounds, Ruby jumps, her eyes widening with fear as the car races toward her.

She squeezes her eyes shut, but the impact doesn't come.

Her eyes flutter open and she finds Penny standing there, her hands held out in front of her to stop the truck in place.

"Penny?" Ruby whispered.

The other girl jumped, whirling around to look at her friend.

She took off, and Ruby, once again, ran after her.

She finally catches up to her in an ally, coming to a skidding stop in front of her friend.

"Penny? What's wrong? How did you do that?"

-

Blake tries not to show how horrified she is as she stands near the front of the rally, watching in shock as Roman Torchwick starts to speak to the faunus.

As he whips off a sheet from the metallic soldier, Blake's heart stops.

They had to get out of there.

But she and Sun were being pushed toward the front with all of the other "recruits."

This was definitely not going as planned.

-

Weiss smiled as she got the information, hurriedly making her way out of the communications tower. Her attention gravitated back toward Ruby, and she pulled her scroll out, calling her friend.

-

"You're still a person, Penny," Ruby said to her friend.

Her scroll started ringing, and she instantly grabbed it, not letting go of Penny with her other hand.

"Ruby, where are you?"

"That's, uh.... that's a very good question."

Ruby suddenly heard the soldier voices around the corner, just distracted enough from Penny to pick up on them.

"Call you later!" Ruby said, slipping the scroll into her pocket and dragging Penny away from the voices.

The robot allowed herself to be pulled away, her face still in utter shock.

Clearly, she hadn't been expecting Ruby to be so open minded about her... condition? Race? Species? Ruby didn't know what to call it. Secret? That sounded about right.

-

"Run!" Sun shouted.

"What do you think I'm doing?!" Blake snapped, racing down the street and fumbling with her scroll.

She opened her contacts and selected a team call, which was, unsurprisingly, her most common selection.

"We've got trouble," she said.

"Trouble?" Weiss asked worriedly.

There was a loud boom as the paladin robot took a thundering step forward.

"Where are you?" Yang asked.

Blake, Sun, and their loud pursuer raced down the street.

"I think I found you," she said, hopping onto her motorcycle and dragging a frustrated Neptune behind her.

"On my way," Weiss said, running through the streets and crowds of people like a crazy person.

"We are too!" Ruby chimed in.

"We?" Yang asked.

"Sal-u-tations!" a familiar voice cried.

"Penny?" three voices asked together.

Any response was drowned out by a ground shaking boom of the paladin from Blake's end of the call.

"Gotta go," Blake said, ending the call and shoving it into her pocket as she rolled to the side.

"Penny, you wouldn't happen to have any way to get there quickly?" Ruby asked, knowing that she wouldn't be able to carry Penny with her semblance.

Arms wrapped around her waist.

"We'll be there momentarily, Friend Ruby!"

Before she knew it, her feet were being lifted off of the ground.

Weiss skidded to a stop, eyes wide as she saw the giant robot, attacking Blake.

She wondered where Sun had gone, but she didn't have time to worry about the Hunter in training.

"Blake!" she called out, throwing her hand forward and defending her teammate with a glyph.

Blake gave a quick thankful look before going back to the battle.

A roaring motorcycle skidded to a stop and Yang leapt from it, rolling to her feet and popping her gauntlets into place. Neptune was noticeably missing.

"You guys having a party without me?"

"I wouldn't exactly call this a party," Weiss said with an eye roll.

The three teammates were momentarily distracted by the sound of propellers.

Weiss glanced up and caught sight of...

"Ruby?!" she cried.

"Penny?!" Yang shouted.

Penny dropped Ruby, who pushed off of her with her semblance and face toward the paladin with inhuman speed, slamming her scythe against the robot.

The battle was, to quote Ruby later, "the coolest thing that ever happened in the history of ever!"

The four had been practicing their team moves, and it showed during this fight.

Blake was aided by Weiss' glyphs, Blake all but threw Yang at the robot with her ribbons, Ruby carried Weiss at super speed to give her better vantage points for her long distance glyphs, and Yang threw her sister at the robot with her super strength. Not to mention Penny, who showed how successful her father's experiment had been.

Roman's assistant appeared just after they had broken the robot, grabbing onto her leader and preparing to shatter, as she always did to escape.

But Penny beat her to the punch, an energy canon shot hitting her in the face and causing her to fall over. Team RWBY took advantage of this, Yang giving Roman a solid punch to the face and knocking him out while Blake tied Neopolitan up with ribbons on the back of her sword. 

Weiss pulled her scroll from her pocket, dialing a familiar number and letting out a sigh. That had been one heck of a fight, and all of team RWBY was exhausted. Penny, however, seemed very excited.

"That was simply wonderful! What a fight!" she said, spinning around and grabbing Ruby by the shoulders.

"Dust, what is she, a robot?" Yang asked, panting.

Penny instantly stopped.

"Did... did you tell them?" she asked Ruby, sounding heart broken.

"No!" she denied instantly, waving her arms back and forth avidly.

"Tell us what?" Weiss asked distrustfully.

Ruby glanced at Penny, who sighed and nodded her head slowly.

Ruby almost exploded in excitement.

"Penny's a robot!" she exclaimed.

Her entire team stared at her in shock.

"She's a what?"

"A robot! You know, metallic, electronic, circuitry? Except she had an aura! So she's a person!" Ruby said, bouncing on the tips of her toes in enthusiasm.

Yang was the first to recover from her stupor.

"Are you messing with us?"

Penny slowly flipped her hands over to reveal the metal underneath the skin.

Before the other members of RWBY had time to properly freak out, several cars pulled to a stop nearby.

Ozpin stepped out of the first one, followed by General Ironwood.

"Blake, you bow!" Ruby hissed.

She jumped, fumbling for the head attire, but froze as a blinding flash shined in her eyes.

"Oh, dust," Weiss cursed. She recognized the photographer, who worked for a very prominent Vale Newspaper.

Weiss hurried toward her.

"Ms. Brown, I'm going to need you do delete that photo," she said threateningly.

"With all due respect, Ms. Schnee, you'd have to pry this photo from my cold dead hands."

Weiss growled, hand twitching toward her rapier. Blake set a hand on her shoulder.

She glanced at her friend, who had a slightly fearful expression hidden beneath a small smile.

"It's time," she whispered, letting the ribbon slip from between her fingers and float off into the wind.

"Are you sure?" Yang asked, grabbing onto Blake's hand with her own.

"Yeah... yeah, I'm sure."

"We're here for you," Ruby said.

"As touching as this moment is," a voice drawled, "I'm afraid I must interrupt."


	12. Interrogations

"As touching as this moment is, I'm afraid I must interrupt."

Weiss spun.

"Winter?!"

"Hello, Weiss," she said formally, the barest hint of a smile tugging at the very corner of her lips.

"I, um, what are you doing here?" she spluttered.

"I wasn't aware that my job requirements were any of your concern," she said, raising an eyebrow.

"That's... of course not! I just mean... I called Ozpin, and I wasn't aware that you and he were...," Weiss trailed off, attempting to stop digging the hole she was in any deeper.

Yang covered her mouth with one hand to avoid laughing.

"Are you going to introduce me to your acquaintances?" Winter questioned, her voice still stern.

"Oh, right! These are my teammates; Ruby, Yang, and Blake," she pointed to each one as she introduced them.

Ruby waved enthusiastically, Yang gave her a friendly grin, and Blake offered up an awkward smile, one of her hands twitching toward her head self consciously.

Winter looked them each up and down with quick glances.

Her eyes lingered on Blake for a long moment before she turned away.

"This is my sister, Winter."

Yang grinned.

"Don't," Weiss mouthed, eyes wide.

Yang's eyes grew enthusiastic.

"Yang!" she hissed at her friend.

She pleaded wordlessly, and Weiss found her resolve weakening. How could she say no when Yang looked so happy?!

She sighed and gave Yang a look that said "if you must."

"You must be even colder than Weiss!" Yang cried, grinning like a maniac.

"Oh my dust," Blake muttered in disappointment.

Ruby snickered before Blake subtly elbowed her.

Winter stared at them, unimpressed. She turned back to Weiss after a long minute of staring Yang down.

"Was it just your team that was able to subdue Torchwick and Neopolitan?"

"Almost. We had some assistance from-"

"Special Agent Schnee! Salutations!"

Weiss' sister turned from her and a smile overtook her features. It was thin, but definitely noticeable.

The heiress was, understandably, left speechless.

"Ms. Polendina, we were wondering where you ran off to."

Penny's grin faltered some and her gaze flickered to Ruby for a second.

"I had to help my friends!"

Winter glanced at the team leader, raising an eyebrow.

"I see. I trust it went well?"

"Absolutely!"

Penny gave Winter a wide grin, looking as if she intended to continue, but was interrupted.

"Penny!" General Ironwood snapped, glaring at her.

"I must depart. It was a pleasure seeing you, Special Agent Schnee! Goodbye, Friends!" she waved goodbye before racing toward the general.

Winter watched her depart for a moment before turning to Weiss' team, her smile fading and leaving her typical unimpressed expression in its stead.

Weiss was deeply confused.

"Ms. Rose, Xiao Long, Belladonna, I believe it would be best if you allowed Ms. Schnee to catch up with her sister. How about you three come and tell us about what happened here tonight?" Ozpin asked.

They hesitated, glancing at Weiss.

The heiress realized, with a shock, that they were waiting for her permission to leave her alone with Winter. She nodded, and the three moved toward the headmaster.

When they were out of ear shot, even for Blake, Winter spoke.

"Which one is it?"

"What?" Weiss asked, confused.

"Which one is making you act like a lovesick girl?" Winter continued, standing with her arms folded behind her back and a serene expression on her face.

Weiss' face turned completely red and she gaped at her sister for a moment before she attempted to compose herself.

"I-I have no idea what you're talking about."

Weiss cursed her stuttering.

"I do hope it isn't the faunus."

Weiss bristled.

"So what if it is?" she snapped.

Winter glanced down at her and raised an eyebrow in calm consideration.

"I thought you might still be straining for a modicum of approval from Father. I see that might have, finally, ended."

Weiss looked away, spotting her team as they spoke to Ozpin.

Ruby was waving her hands excitedly while Yang grinned, adding onto what her sister said, just as enthused. Blake seemed content to let the other two explain what had happened, only chiming in when necessary to correct one of them. The simple sight was enough to make Weiss' heart melt. It was just so... them. Winter was right, however much Weiss hated it. They were making her act like a lovesick girl.

"I would have assumed it was the leader. What was her name again? Ah, yes, Ruby."

"Why?" Weiss asked before she could stop herself.

"She seems like, for a lack of a better term, your type."

Weiss sighed quietly.

"And what makes you say that?"

Winter was silent for a moment, and Weiss forced her gaze from the three.

"Schnee!" the general called.

"It was nice to see you, Weiss. As for your question... you and I were always quite similar."

"Special Agent Schnee, the general called for you, did you hear him?" Penny yelled just as loudly, waving a hand in the air.

Winter smiled, once again, and turned to the robotic girl.

"Yes, I was just about to join you."

Penny grinned widely and spoke quietly to Winter as the pair walked off.

Just as they left her range of hearing, Weiss caught her sister saying "Ms. Polendina, you may call me Winter, if you wish."

Penny smiled so brightly that Weiss seriously wondered for a moment if she shone lights from her teeth.

"I would be honored, Winter!"

Penny continued, but Weiss was unable to hear the rest of it due to her vantage point.

She was left watching the pair with eyes so wide she thought they might pop out of their socket.

"-eiss? Weiss?! Are you alright?!" Ruby called, waving her hand in front of Weiss' face.

She jumped, turning toward the brunette.

"I... yes, thank you, Ruby," she said.

Ruby let out a sigh of relief.

"For a second, I thought she was broken!" Ruby said to her sister.

"What broke your mind, Ice Queen?" Yang asked, throwing her arm around Weiss' shoulders.

Weiss instantly blushed at the contact, feeling Yang's side pushed flush against her own.

"It's... not important."

Blake frowned.

"Are you sure?" she asked hesitantly.

"Yeah. I've had enough mental breakdowns for one day."

"You said it!" Yang huffed, slouching down and dragging Weiss with her.

She struggled under the, significantly, taller girl's weight.

"Get off of me, you lout," Weiss huffed.

She didn't mind, however, when Yang just pulled her closer, laughing.

"If I'm a lout and Ruby's a dolt, then what's Blake?" Yang asked.

"The only member on this team, besides myself, with any sort of common sense."

Blake grinned.

"That's not fair," Ruby whined.

Yang side eyed her sister.

"No, I'm pretty sure it is," she said.

-

Ozpin sat in the back of the police van across from Roman Torchwick.

He leaned forward, resting his chin on his steepled fingers.

"Tell me one good reason why I shouldn't lock you up and throw away the key."

The con man glanced at his heterochromatic assistant. A silent conversation passed between them.

"I know a secret that could tear apart your entire school," he said leaning back in his seat and lounging as if he had not a care in the world.

"And that is?" Ozpin asked, raising an unimpressed eyebrow at the notorious criminal.

"You have a spy in your school."

The headmaster's eyes widened in surprise.

"You have my attention."

"Damn right I do."

-

"I'm exhausted," Ruby moaned.

"I'm so hungry I could eat a horse!" Yang moaned. She glanced at Blake and smirked. "No offense."

Blake scoffed, rolling her eyes.

"You are aware that I sleep right underneath your bed, aren't you? Do you know how easy would be to cut your Achilles tendon in the middle of the night?" she asked.

Yang glanced at her sister and then Weiss.

"I have no idea what that means, but it sounds horrifying."

"Good," Blake said, huffing as she rolled over in her bed to face her teammates.

A comfortable silence fell over the dorm room for a few minutes before Ruby, unceremoniously, broke it.

"Blake, are you really going to stop wearing your bow?"

The faunus glanced up at Ruby's bunk, starting to fidget.

"Does that make you uncomfortable?"

"What?! No, of course not!" Ruby shook her head so quickly that she almost fell out of the bed in her haste to deny it.

"It's not like I have much of a choice anymore. That picture will be all over the news by tomorrow morning."

"I'm sure I could get my sister to pull it, if you want," Weiss said, though she wasn't completely certain.

Blake ran a hand down her face.

"It's time, Weiss. I'm tired of hiding it."

Weiss nodded, leaning against the back of her bed.

"That's very brave of you," she said.

Yang swung her head down from her own bunk, her face coming within inches of Blake's own.

Her eyes seemed to stare into Blake's soul, sincerity radiating from them.

"I'm very proud of you, and I'll be here every step on the way."

Blake could only nod.

"Me too!" Ruby chimed in, leaning to the side so that Blake could see the younger girl past her sister.

"As will I," Weiss said.

Blake almost started crying.

-

"Who is it?"

Roman Torchwick observed his nails.

"It's certainly more than one person."

"Who are they?" Ozpin growled.

"Not so fast, Ozzy Boy. What do I get in return?"

"What do you want in return, Torchwick?"

"I'm not sure yet."

"Well you better figure it out soon, or I'll bring in the general."

Torchwick appeared unphased.

"All I'll say right now, is that you better reconsider that dance."


	13. Faunus Facts

"Blake?"

The faunus jumped, turning to face her teammate.

"Yes, Ruby?"

The younger girl considered for a long moment before shaking her head.

"Never mind!" she squeaked, face red.

Blake frowned.

"What is it?"

"You'll get mad."

"Ruby, you know pretty much all of my dark secrets, and you don't seem to care. How can I be mad when you're still here?"

As Ruby stared at Blake, she felt her heart melting along with her resolve.

"I... I wanted to know if I could touch your ears!" Ruby spoke too loudly, her voice coming out in a rush and stinging her own ears. She instantly regretted her words.

Blake stared at her in shock, and Ruby hastily backtracked.

"I'm sorry, that's over the line, just forget I said anything-"

"Ruby."

"Yes?" she said, cringing.

"I don't see why not."

Ruby's eyes widened and she grinned like a kid in a candy shop.

"Really?!"

Blake was glad there weren't any other faunus around.

Ruby awkwardly took a seat next to Blake, her hands fidgeting as she tried to figure out how to do it.

Blake rolled her eyes fondly and laid down across the bed, letting her head land in Ruby's lap. She picked up her book and went back to reading.

There was a long moment of consideration before Ruby reached a hand down and set it on Blake's head, ever so slowly running it through her hair until she reached the base of Blake's cat ear. She stroked it with delicate fingers, and Blake smiled, twitching the ear ever so slightly.

Ruby instantly jumped back.

"I'm sorry!" she cried.

Blake pushed down her slight irritation, replacing it with her fondness for the younger girl.

She reached her arm up, grabbing onto the other girl's wrist and guiding it toward her head. She sat it purposefully down on her own ears.

"Ruby, I said it was alright."

The team leader grinned her mega watt smile and started to pet Blake like a cat.

Ruby seemed very excited, bouncing up and down just slightly as Blake went back to her book. The faunus had forgotten how nice this felt. The last person that had done this had been... she shoved him out of her thoughts. Ruby, and her other teammates, would never be like him.

Blake wasn't sure how long afterwards it was, but she suddenly saw Yang's head peeking over the edge of the top bunk.

"Yang?" Blake asked, eyes flickering from her book just for a moment.

Yang's eyes widened and she pulled back some until just her hair was in view.

"Yes, Blake?" she said, clearly trying to sound busy.

"What were you doing?"

"I... nothing?"

Blake scoffed.

"Do you want to touch my ears too, Yang?" she asked in a suffering tone.

"Yes."

Blake rolled her eyes and picked her head up, causing Ruby to protest.

Yang swung herself down from the top bunk and slid underneath where Blake had lifted her head.

She was far less hesitant than her sister.

"Why is it so soft?" she marveled loudly.

"I know!" Ruby hissed back at her.

Blake chuckled slightly, not letting them distract her from her book... at least, not too much.

A rumble built in Blake's chest, but she pushed it down.

Everything was quiet for a few minutes.

Too quiet.

Maybe it was a sixth sense, maybe it was just logic. Whatever reason, Blake knew what she would find when she glanced up at where Weiss sat.

The heiress was stealing glances at the three of them, though she was trying to hide it.

"Weiss, just say it."

"Say what?" the heiress asked primly.

Blake didn't respond for a long moment.

"Blake, can I-"

"Yes, Weiss. Now can you three be quiet? I'm trying to read."

Weiss awkwardly stood by the side of the bed. Blake sat up for a moment, not looking away from her page, and Weiss considered for a moment. Yang rolled her eyes and grabbed the heiress around the waist, pulling her between herself and Ruby so that she was sitting in their laps.

Wiess instantly blushed, her heart beating so fast that she was worried one of her teammates would be able to feel it or hear it.

Blake laid down again and felt three hands running through her hair and playing with her ears.

She read for almost fifteen minutes before she felt her eyes starting to droop. She slowly closed her book, setting in on her stomach, and let them fall shut. It was hard not to when her three teammates were so close. Not to mention they were petting her ears, which was always comforting for Blake. Her mother used to do it whenever she had a nightmare to soothe her to sleep.

As she started to drift to sleep, a rumble left her chest.

Her eyes flew open as soon as she realized what she'd done.

The three hands had frozen in place, staring at her.

After a moment, Yang asked, "is it just me, or did Blake just purr."

"I heard it too," Ruby whispered, though not very quietly.

"What a surprise, the cat faunus purrs," she said sarcastically, starting to sit up.

Yang gently stopped her.

"We were just surprised Blake," she said.

"I didn't know you could do that!" Ruby said in shock.

Weiss silently continued to run her hand along Blake's ear.

"It was so cute!" Ruby whispered, once again poorly.

Yang nodded and Blake huffed, letting her eyes fall shut once again.

As she drifted to sleep, she allowed another purr to resonate in the air.

Ruby looked down at the sleeping faunus in a way that Yang could only describe as lovesick.

Blake curled up around the three of them like a cat, continuing to purr in her sleep.

Yang yawned, triggering both of her teammates that were still awake to do the same.

Yang reached down and grabbed Blake gently, cradling her in her arms.

Weiss let out a quiet sound of protest, careful not to wake the faunus.

Yang laid down on the bed, Blake's head on her arm.

Ruby followed her, laying on Blake's other side. The faunus stretched just slightly and her arm reached out toward Ruby. The younger girl instantly let herself curl up in the sleeping girl's arms.

Within a minute, Ruby had caused the three to become a cozy set of spoon, tucked under the covers.

Weiss awkwardly stood, intent to go to her own bunk, and Ruby raised the blanket invitingly.

Weiss knew that she shouldn't join the three for a number of reasons.

First of all, she had been raised to keep her distance from people in general (whether they wanted something from her or not). Second of all, there was a faunus in the bed, and she had been raised not to associate with them. Not to mention the fact that Weiss had a crush on all three of the girls in the bed, and it was a horrible idea for her to feed those emotions (not to mention they were girls she liked and not a single one of them had connections that she could use for the company later in life). And, perhaps most importantly, the bed was small and she wasn't sure if there really was enough room for them all.

But despite all of these perfectly valid reasons for her to reject the young leader's offer, Weiss found herself slipping under the covers and Ruby's arms wrapped around her.

Weiss' heart raced in her chest, but, for some reason, it didn't stop her from falling asleep in a peaceful haze, feeling more fulfilled than she ever had before in her life.

She idly wondered when her life had come to this. That moment was probably the best of her life.


	14. Discoveries

Blake's eyes fluttered open. She felt oddly warm and at peace.

In front of her, she caught sight of brunette hair and a small form curled up in front of her. Ruby was pushed right up against Blake, a small smile on her face even as she slept. Her breathing was even and her heart beat at a slow, steady pace, which made Blake certain that the other girl was truly sleeping. She also wondered how the other girl could be so cute and comfortable to hold.

Blake wondered why she was holding Ruby like this, in her sleep nonetheless, but was distracted when she saw white strands of hair splayed out on the pillow in front of her.

The faunus picked up her head ever so slightly, catching sight of another familiar figure.

Weiss lay, also asleep, in Ruby's arms. She was curled up slightly, making her look even smaller than she actually was. Her hand was holding Ruby's gently as she softly snored, creating a pleasant background noise. Blake hadn't known she did that. She also hadn't ever noticed that Weiss was just so... small. And adorable. How had she not realized that.

Blake's attention was stolen from the two girls in front of her as she felt fingers tighten around her waist. She looked back slowly, careful not to wake up the others, and saw Yang wrapped around her, one arm looped around Blake's waist and her other one laying across the entire pillow, her hand gently resting on Weiss' head, something that Blake hadn't realized until just now. Yang was warm against Blake's back, and with her eyes closed, Blake found her undeniably endearing.

Blake wasn't sure why the other three members of her team were curled up around each other, but it brought a wide smile to her face. She shifted just slightly, moving a bit closer to Ruby and put her face right behind the leader's head, trying to block out the sun. Also, Ruby's strawberry shampoo smelled exceedingly nice.

Just as Blake was about to fall asleep again, there was a loud pounding on the door.

"Blake! Yang! Ruby! Weiss!" a familiar voice shouted.

Blake wished Nora would just go away.

She pulled her arm closer to her chest, which moved both Ruby and Weiss toward her. She hadn't noticed her hand was resting on Weiss' waist until just now,

There was a moment of silence, and Blake dared to dream that Nora would leave them alone.

"Nora, don't break down the door," Ren's calm voice told her.

Blake's eyes widened in shock.

She had been about to do what?! But, upon further consideration, Blake found she wasn't very surprised. That sounded like a very Nora thing to do.

Yang shifted behind Blake, and the faunus cursed internally.

Ruby wiggled and Weiss took a deep breath.

Blake knew the others were waking up, but she found that she didn't want them to get up. She'd never been one to try and sleep in lazily or waste an afternoon lying in bed, but now she understood. If she always felt this comfortable and safe when she was asleep, she'd want to sleep a whole lot more than she did.

"Blake!"

"Is that Nora?" Yang mumbled, her voice laden with sleep.

Blake grunted and moved back some, closing the little distance between Yang and herself.

"Shush," she said.

Yang chuckled.

"Nora, leave us alone!" she called sleepily.

"You already slept all morning!" she whined.

"What?" Weiss asked, shifting so that she could reach the dresser. She groped blindly for a scroll, pulling back Yang's and glancing at the time.

"We're late!" she hissed, "So, so, very late!"

"Weiss, it's Sunday!" Ruby moaned, pulling Weiss back into bed, making her squeak in shock.

Ruby buried her face in Weiss' hair.

"Please!" Nora called, "I just want to talk to Blake!"

"Give us five more hours," Ruby called.

There was a few moments of hissed conversation outside.

"Fifteen minutes!" Nora cried.

That was the best they were going to get.

"We should probably get ready," Weiss said. She didn't get up.

"You're right," Blake said.

Nobody moved toward the exit.

Blake let her eyes fall shut, and before she knew it, Nora was once again pounding on the door.

"It's unlocked," Weiss grumbled. The heiress realized her mistake a moment after she said it. So did her teammates.

In the few seconds they had before Nora burst in, the four girls forced themselves to sit up in the vague shape of a circle, pretending they had been talking on Blake's bed.

"Oh my dust! They're real!" Nora cried.

"What's real?" Weiss asked.

"Her ears!" Nora cried, pointing at the top of Blake's head.

"They're so cute!" she elaborated. Loudly.

Blake shrunk slightly at the attention, her ears drooping.

"They look so fluffy!"

"Nora, don't overwhelm her," Ren warned.

Pyrrha and Jaune stepped into the room behind the other pair.

"Can I touch them?!" Nora asked excitedly.

"Nora," Ren said levelly.

"I'd rather you didn't," Blake said, crumpling in on herself slightly.

Her teammates glanced at her, remembering the night before and wondering if she was uncomfortable or if the touching of her cat ears was an intimate action.

Yang put a hand on Blake's shoulder. Weiss and Ruby's landed on either of her knees.

"Are you feeling alright, Blake? Your secret being spilled like that by the news can't be fun," Pyrrha said gently.

"No kidding," Weiss said quietly.

"I'm fine. A little tired, but that's to be expected after everything last night."

"That's true!" Yang agreed loudly.

"Did you really capture Roman Torchwick?!" Nora asked incredulously.

Yang smirked smugly. "Yeah we did! Him and his little assistant!"

"With a little help," Ruby added.

"Next time, invite us!" Nora whined, "It would have been so cool!"

Weiss rolled her eyes, crossing her arms against her chest once she was sure Blake was alright. She was more than a bit frustrated with the other girl for having interrupted their sleep. She had been quite comfortable.

"If you need anything, our team's here," Ren said gently.

"Yeah! We'll knock someone's kneecaps off if they say anything!" Nora said, sounding far too enthusiastic at the possibility.

Blake gave them a small smile.

"Is there anything you want us to do?" Pyrrha asked.

Ruby glanced at her teammates quickly, taking a silent poll of their thoughts.

"No, I think that we're going to be just hanging out in here for the rest of today," she said.

"Speaking of, what time is it?" Yang asked.

"A little after one," Ren supplied.

Yang stretched, yawning.

"Way too early."

Weiss gaped at her.

"How do you even function."

"That's my secret. I don't," Yang said, winking at her friend.

Weiss blushed.

"Makes sense," she responded.

The other team filed out of the room after a few more minutes of checking in, leaving the four to themselves. They got dressed and ready before heading back to the middle of the dorm room.

The day passed uneventfully.

There wasn't any homework for the four, thankfully, as they were still extremely tired after yesterday.

Ruby slowly, with attempted subtly, inched toward Blake's bed. Yang glanced at her sister, raising an eyebrow. She knew that the younger girl was trying to replicate last night, but she was almost certain she wouldn't be able to.

Blake glanced up at her team leader over the edge of her book. Ruby froze instantly. Blake considered for a moment before laying down.

Ruby inched closer once more. When she got within a foot, Blake sat up just slightly. The younger girl considered for approximately a second before she slid into the area that Blake had vacated.

Yang, having seen this, flipped off the top bunk and joined them.

As if a silent agreement had been made, Weiss trudged across the room with her textbook, taking a seat in between the two sisters.

Yang was the first to get the courage to run her hand over Blake's ears. She also wrapped her other arm around Weiss' back, which made the heiress stiffen.

Ruby set her head on Weiss' shoulder and the two joined Yang's gentle petting of Blake's head.

Everyone was silent about their current predicament until Yang grinned.

"Nora would be so jealous," she said.

"Good. She can stick with her own team," Weiss said, sounding more than a bit smug and possessive.

Ruby chuckled.

The afternoon passed lazily, and Blake, once again, fell asleep in their laps.

Just like last night, Yang moved Blake onto the pillow, but tonight she curled up in the corner.

Yang considered for a long moment before laying beside the faunus. Blake latched onto her moments later. Weiss went through her list of reasons why she shouldn't but ignored them once again, joining a grinning Yang and letting the obscenely tall girl hold her.

Ruby laughed and practically leapt into Weiss' arms.

The four girls were asleep far earlier than usual.

Weiss tried not to hyperventilate, Yang tried not to cheer at their advances, and Ruby had to stop herself from laughing in joy.


	15. Congratulations!

"For the last time, who is it?!" General Ironwood snapped, slamming his hands on the table.

"Did you get the makeup kit I asked for?"

Neopolitan laughed silently.

-

Blake wasn't ready for class. She wasn't ready to have so many eyes on her, knowing about her secrets.

"Are you sure you're ready?" Yang asked. She was standing at the door, her hand gently set on the handle.

"It's not like it'll go away if I'm not," Blake said.

"Fair point."

"Don't worry, Blakey! Team RWBY's here for you!" Ruby said enthusiastically.

Blake smiled thinly before gesturing for Yang to open the door.

The faunus stepped into the hallway, her head feeling bare as she felt a gust of air blow against it.

Ruby and Weiss had silently taken position on either side of her while Yang walked a foot behind, watching the rest of the student body with distrust in her eyes.

Breakfast was awkward at first. The four girls sat down at the table, taking their normal positions across from team JNPR. The conversation was filled with small talk, with Blake hardly joining in at all. Voices from all around them filled the cafeteria, and Blake could hear many of them whispering lowly about her.

Blake physically flinched when Cardin walked into the room, his eyes zeroing in on her with malicious intent.

As if sensing the shift in their teammate, the rest of team RWBY turned their heads toward the racist man.

He stutter-stepped for a moment, eyes flickering between the two teams seated across from each other.

Yang had clicked her gauntlets into place, Ruby had Crescent Rose in sniper form and aimed suspiciously close to him, and Weiss had even set her hand on her rapier.

After a moment, team JNPR did the same. Even Pyrrha and Jaune had retrieved their weapons (one of them holding their own with far more experience than the other, which was evident from their form).

"Keep walkin'," Yang said lowly.

Cardin considered for a moment before continuing past them.

"Freak," he muttered under his breath as he walked by Blake.

Apparently, he hadn't been quiet enough.

Yang growled and reeled her arm back, but Weiss beat her to the punch, quite literally.

She had whipped her rapier from its sheath and was now holding it against his neck. The entire cafeteria had fallen silent.

"Apologize."

"I would have touch a Schnee of all people would have had some self respect," he spat.

Weiss' rapier dug into his skin, and he hissed. A drop of blood slid down his neck.

"Apologize."

Cardin's hand inches toward his sword, and Ruby jumped at the chance.

Her sniper rifle was pointed right at his face.

"Don't try it."

Cardin struggled for a long moment, glancing at his team for assistance.

Yang "casually" pointed her gauntlets at the three, and not a one of them moved to defend Cardin.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled.

"You can do better than that," Weiss sneered.

"I'm sorry, alright?! Let me go!"

Ruby, Weiss, and Yang glanced at Blake, who was watching them with a sense of wonder.

Had the situation been different, Weiss and Ruby would have blushed at her expression (Yang would have preened).

Blake realized they were waiting for her, so she nodded quickly.

Weiss released the team leader with a harsh glare.

Cardin scrambled back to his team.

"Thank you," Blake whispered to her team as they sat down.

"Any time, Blake," Yang said.

Ruby looped her arm through Blake's own, setting her head on her shoulder.

"Yeah!"

Blake glanced at Weiss, her heart beating quicker than it should have been.

The heiress gave her a small smile. After a moment, Blake felt fingers run against her hand, and she barely stopped herself from jumping. She glanced at Weiss, finding that the other girl was steadfastly looking anywhere but at Blake. One of her hands was tucked under the table as she slowly began to eat.

Blake unfurled her hand, which had been clenched into a first, and let Weiss thread her own through them tentatively.

The heiress' face was red, and Blake found it undeniably adorable. She wondered if the other girl always got like that during public displays of affection.

The idea was endearing.

Conversation slowly started back up in the cafeteria, though Blake was certain more than half of the discussions were about herself and her team.

Breakfast passed quickly, and Blake found dread growing inside her as they neared their first class. She'd caught tidbits of other conversations, and she was quite sure that there was more than just her identity being revealed in that newspaper, though she had yet to read it.

Nora had said that the preliminary piece was out yesterday, with breaking news about team RWBY's defeat of Roman Torchwick and Weiss Schnee's teammate being a faunus.

The second piece was released this morning, and no member of their team had gotten the chance to read it.

The unknown details of the article made Blake's skin crawl.

-

"All I'm saying, is that you should keep an eye out for that CCT tower of yours," Roman said, grinning like the cat that ate the canary.

The general slammed his hand on the table in fury.

-

The day's classes went by without any other close calls, such as the one that morning with Cardin, but all eyes seemed to be fixated with Blake.

The cat faunus was grateful for that, and was planning to count her blessings and head toward their dorm room right after their final class.

But, just as she had exited the classroom, she was stopped in her tracks.

Velvet's small form stood in front of her, shifting uncomfortably and looking around nervously.

"Blake, can I talk to you?" she asked, voice low.

Blake glanced at her teammates, trying to hold in a sigh.

"I'll meet you at the room."

"What? No way," Yang said.

"Yeah, we'll be waiting right here for you!" Ruby said.

Blake gave them a thankful smile before following Velvet into the now empty classroom.

"I just... I just wanted to say that it was really awesome that you finally felt comfortable enough to show... you know," Velvet said, smiling up at her.

Blake rubbed the back of her neck awkwardly, deciding it would probably be best not to point out that she hadn't had a choice.

"Thanks, Velvet."

"And... I'm very happy for you and Weiss."

"Thanks-wait... what? Why?" Blake asked, frowning.

Velvet jumped, her face turning red

"It's... it's just very sweet that someone such as her would be able to bridge the gap between humans and faunus."

Blake was lost, and understandably so.

"I'm sorry, but I'm not following you."

Velvet frowned again, her hands fidgeting awkwardly.

"I'm sorry... was it not you and Weiss?"

"Was what not Weiss and myself?"

"The article."

"We were in the article. At least, I think so. I haven't actually read it yet."

Velvet's eyes widened dramatically.

"Oh... Oh! I'm sorry. It's just... I think I should get going, then," Velvet said, heading toward the exit.

"Wait! What did the paper say?"

Velvet paused, turning around to face her fellow faunus before taking off her backpack and digging through it for a moment.

"It's on the front page."

Blake grabbed the newspaper Velvet was passing to her, eyes flickering across the page quickly.

To the right of the first body paragraph, Blake saw a picture of herself and Weiss staring into each other's eyes, the pair of them holding hands.

Blake felt heat rush to her face.

"A lot of us just assumed that...," Velvet trailed off.

"No!" Blake internally grimaced at her loud voice.

"No, it's... it's not like... that, Velvet."

Velvet's ears drooped slightly.

"Oh."

"I'm sorry to disappoint?"

"It's alright, Blake. I was just hoping that, maybe, Weiss would be the first Schnee in documented history that not only saw faunus as equals, but was in a relationship with one! It would... well, let's just say that it would have done wonders for faunus and human relationships."

Blake nodded. Velvet had a valid point.

There was an awkward silence that hung in the air before Blake broke it.

"Is this about Cardin? Because I'm sure that many students would be more than happy to teach him a lesson for you, myself included."

Velvet let out a quiet laugh, shaking her head.

"No... it has nothing to do with Cardin."

"Someone else picking on you?" Blake asked, her eyes narrowing.

"No! No, it's nothing like that!"

Blake stared at her.

"It's... it's about Coco."

"Your team leader? What about her?"

Velvet's face burned a bright red color.

"I... it's nothing..."

Blake wondered for a moment if the team leader was bullying Velvet, but quickly pushed that idea from her mind. The older girl was constantly protecting her partner, and Blake couldn't imagine the fashionista ever harming her on purpose.

"You like her, don't you?"

Velvet's ears shot up in surprise, her face turning redder.

"You should just tell her," Blake said gently, putting her hand on Velvet's shoulder.

The bunny faunus laughed awkwardly.

"You're right... I guess I may have jumped to conclusions about you and Weiss, seeing what I wanted to see. Maybe I just thought that... if the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company could make it work with a faunus, then... then maybe I could work up the courage to tell Coco how I feel about her."

"You can do it, Velv," Blake said gently.

There was a knock on the door, and they both jumped to face it.

"You two alright in here?" Coco asked, poking her head inside.

"Y-yeah! I'm coming, Coco!" Velvet said, hurriedly zipping up her backpack.

Blake offered her the newspaper back, but Velvet quickly declined.

"You four should probably read it yourselves! Good luck, Blake! Thank you!" Velvet said hurriedly as she left.

Blake watched her go for a moment before Yang strode in, grinning.

"You coming, Kitty Cat?"

Blake froze for a moment, staring at her partner.

Yang internally screamed. She shouldn't have said that, but she didn't let her internal regret show on her face.

Blake nodded and headed outside wordlessly.

Yang let out a relieved breath, which made Blake smirk when she heard it.

Team RWBY made their way down the vacant hallway.

"What did Velvet need to talk to you about?" Ruby asked curiously.

Blake felt heat rush into her face.

"Just wanted to check in and make sure that I was doing okay."

"Of course you are! You have your team here with you!" Ruby said enthusiastically.

Blake smiled fondly, rolling her eyes.

"That's what I told her."

"Is that the newspaper?" Weiss questioned.

"Yeah, she gave me a copy."

Yang opened the door to their dorm, and Blake took a seat on her bed, followed by Weiss, who was eyeing the paper intently. She didn't even notice where she was sitting, or how close she was sitting to Blake, until the other girl had already opened the paper.

As they started to read, they were interrupted by a loud voice over the speakers.

"Due to unforeseen circumstances, this year's Vytal Tournament Festival Ball will be postponed until after the tournament has been completed," Ozpin's voice said, echoing down several hallways.

"What?!" Yang cried, throwing her hands up in the air.

Ruby grimaced.

"Well, I for one am glad. There's far too many things going on now to be worried about a silly dance," Weiss said primly.

"I would have thought that you would be excited to go with Neptune," Blake said. For some reason, the idea made her heart sink.

Yang and Ruby's eyes shot to the heiress, watching her with bated breath.

"What?" Weiss considered for a moment before her eyes widened in realization. "Oh! I, ahem," she cleared her throat, "suppose that did come to mind before. But I don't find myself interested in him romantically. Anymore."

Smiles grew on the rest of the team's faces.

"Is that so?" Yang asked.

Weiss nodded wordlessly.

"Why?" Ruby asked excitedly.

Weiss choked on air, coughing so heavily that Blake patted her on the back in an attempt to help her.

"I... I assume my immediate interest in him died once I got to know him more."

"That's cool, Ice Queen," Yang said, grinning maniacally at her pun.

Weiss groaned and Ruby slapped her sister's arm.

Blake and Weiss read over the paper quickly, the latter staring at the picture of them for a long moment, eyes wide.

The article was about how one would expect it to be. It discussed the fight, with several incorrect facts, and the four teammates, also with a myriad of misconceptions.

Blake set it down and Weiss subtly placed it on her own bedside counter. Ruby and Yang noticed.


	16. (Panic) Attacks

Blake's mind wandered, traveling back to what it always did when she had the opportunity to.

The White Fang.

She froze, eyes flickering to the newspaper on Weiss' bedside table.

If the news had revealed where she was... did that mean that... he would know?!

Her chest felt tight and her hands clenched into fists.

She must have started to hyperventilate, because Yang up from her spot lounging on the floor.

"Blake? Are you alright?" she asked, setting a hand on her knee.

Blake barely heard her.

He would know where she was. She was a sitting duck. She had to run, had to get away from where she was.

Just as the panic set in, her eyes caught Yang's own, which were filled with deep concern.

"Blake, what's going on?" she asked, moving closer to her teammate.

"I...," Blake couldn't speak. Instead, she found herself trembling uncontrollably.

Yang instantly wrapped her arms around Blake, holding her gently while Blake panicked.

"Blake?" Ruby asked, hurrying over to the bed her sister occupied with the faunus. She joined them, curling up in Blake's lap and facing her, wrapping her legs and arms around Blake's front and holding onto her like a baby koala.

Weiss looked around the room, appearing as if she was looking for some sort of attacker.

When she realized there wasn't one, she sat at Yang's side, reaching up and running her hand through Blake's hair and along her ears.

Blake drew a shaking breath, steeling herself enough to stop trembling.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Yang asked.

"There's... something I still need to tell you... about my past."

"Something else?" Weiss asked.

Blake huffed out a laugh, though it was almost forced.

"Yes, something else."

Blake refused to make eye contact with her teammates as she told her and Adam's story. And his obsession with her now.

"And you think that this... monster is going to track you down here and hurt you?" Ruby asked.

"Not just me. I'm... I'm worried he'll get to you three too. I need to leave."

"What?!" the three other teammates cried as one.

"Blake, you're not going anywhere," Weiss said demandingly, "You're at one of the safest places in the world. You're behind school walls, there's countless registered Hunters and Huntresses, not to mention the ones in training, you're across the hall from the Pyrrha Nikos, and you've got three teammates that would do anything for you. Don't be stupid."

"But-"

"No buts! You're stuck with us, Blakey! No way we're letting you go now!" Ruby said.

"If it makes you feel better, we'll never leave your side," Yang said, squeezing the faunus gently.

Blake was silent for a moment before nodding.

"It... that would make me feel better, at least knowing that you all are safe, at least."

"Then we'll be with you 24/7! It'll be like constantly team RWBY bonding time!" Ruby said enthusiastically.

"Yeah!" Yang cheered.

Weiss briefly wondered how that would affect her rather... embarrassing feelings for the other girls in her team, but shoved those thoughts from her mind. Blake was scared, and her teammate's safety and comfort far out weighed her own awkwardness. Plus, she would certainly be lying if she said she wasn't slightly excited to be with her team so often.

Blake slowly calmed down, her heart starting to beat at a normal rate rather than at five times speed. Her chest stopped constricting, which made her relax more into Yang's arms.

"I hate to do this now, and I mean really hate to do this, but I promised Nora and Pyrrha that I would meet with them about homework right about now. And I'm sure that Nora would break down the door if I don't make it on time," Weiss said.

"We can come with!" Ruby said cheerfully.

"I'd hate to get in the way, Weiss. You really don't need to change your schedules for me," Blake said guiltily.

Weiss hurried to reassure her friend.

"No, I promise that I'm going to keep up my end of this, but I just need about three minutes before. I'll be right across the hall."

Blake nodded slowly.

"Okay... be careful," she whispered, blushing slightly.

Weiss gave her a quick hug, which left the heiress blushing, and hurried out of the room.

"Don't worry."

Weiss exited the room hurriedly, running across the hall to Nora and Pyrrha's dorm. She found that both Jaune and Ren were gone, likely having been shooed out by the two girls moments ago.

"You're late," Nora said.

"I know, I know! We need to make this quick," Weiss moaned.

"Are you alright, Weiss?" Pyrrha asked.

"Probably not. Nora, yes I am still very much interested in my three teammates. Pyrrha, I don't want to talk about it. Are we done here?"

"I mean... I was going to ask if you were thinking about making a move, but I'm guessing that's unlikely," Nora said.

"Definitely not," Weiss said, blushing.

Although... things with her team had started to get more... intimate. The gentle and even subtle touches between them had become more and more frequent. However, they never failed to bring a deep blush to her cheeks. She doubted they ever would.

"I have to go!" Weiss said.

"You got a big date?" Nora asked, snickering.

Weiss considered throwing the other girl out of the window. Luckily for the orange-haired girl, Pyrrha bid Weiss adieu and saved Nora.

-

"Ruby, what are you doing?" Blake asked, frowning. Blake had just gotten out of the shower, now freshly changed and prepared for sleep, and found that Ruby was sprawled out on her bed like she belonged there.

"We said 24/7!" Ruby said.

Yang flopped down onto Blake's bed.

"And we meant 24/7," she said.

The sisters highfived.

Blake felt her face suddenly turning a light shade of pink.

"Weiss, are you...," she trailed off, losing her voice as she saw Weiss standing in front of her in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, both of which were clearly not her own.

The clothing was far too big for the heiress, and Blake recognized the shirt from her own closet. She assumed that the shorts were from Yang, but she supposed that perhaps she could have stolen them from Ruby.

"Is something wrong, Blake?" Weiss asked, trying to sound self-confident.

Internally, Weiss was struggling not to blush profusely and think about how nice it was to have stolen her teammates' clothing.

"No, I was just wondering if you would be comfortable with... this. I assumed-"

Blake stopped as Weiss took a seat on the edge of the bed.

"You coming, Kit-Cat?" Yang asked.

Blake huffed at the nickname, rolling her eyes.

The faunus crawled into the bed between Weiss and Yang, Ruby taking the final spot on the edge of the bed.

This became a pattern for the next few nights. The four teammates were rarely seen without one another, and, despite Blake's fears, none of them had ever slept so soundly.

However, the four were very close to being late to class several times. The team just didn't want to get out of their bed in the mornings.

Blake started to find her feelings toward her teammates shifting and expanding, though she couldn't put her finger on what was happening.

Weiss, although still struggling with her feelings greatly, was starting to become better at hiding her internal freak outs (at least she thought so).

Ruby was exceedingly smug at their advancements in their relationships, and she was trying to plan out how to get her and Yang's teammates to fall for them completely.

Yang was just happy that she was able to be so close to her teammates, and, unlike her sister, was almost certain that their roommates couldn't return their feelings.


	17. Sisterly Chats

It had been almost three days since the team had promised to stay virtually inseparable, and Ruby couldn't have been happier.

All of the sudden, she felt like it was acceptable for her to put an arm around Weiss. For her to put her head on Blake's shoulder. For her to lay in her teammate's lap whenever she wanted. She could curl up in bed with either of her crushes without it seeming weird. She could pet Blake whenever she felt like it. She could steal Weiss and Blake's clothing and get nothing but an exasperated (but FOND!) look from the two.

Yang felt much the same, and she was taking advantage of it, though in a slightly different way. She let herself run her hand up and down Weiss' arm flirtatiously. She could play footsy with Blake under the table.

And she finally felt hope. Not that forced hope she had shown with Ruby. It wasn't until today that she had actually thought either of them had a shot of being anything more than friends with either of the two girls that had stolen their hearts. And it put her in a wonderful mood.

That didn't mean that everything was perfect for the team. Yang and Weiss still got into little arguments, though they were far tamer now. Blake still got defensive of her Faunus heritage sometimes when her friends playfully mentioned it. Ruby still got on Weiss' nerves sometimes with her unwavering chipper attitude. Despite their differences, the four girls still found themselves impossibly happier, even when they had their arguments.

The two sisters were on their own for the first time since... since Yang couldn't remember when.

Weiss and Blake were at the library, having split the team into pairs of two for an hour. The two sisters felt almost... empty with the two others missing.

"Yang, do you really... do you really think there's a chance?" Ruby asked quietly, breaking the silence.

Ruby hadn't been able to wrap her head around the idea of the two of them actually gaining any non-platonic relationships with Blake and/or Weiss.

"I really do, Rubes. But that means we finally have to talk about... this," Yang said, gesturing in between the two of them.

"What?" Ruby asked, frowning.

"Ruby, this isn't exactly... normal. Not only are both of us trying to pursue the same polyamorous relationship, but we're sisters, which makes it... awkward to say the least. We need to talk about the... complications that could cause."

"Like?" Ruby asked worriedly.

"Would you be jealous if I kissed one of them? Would I be jealous if you did? Would we be able to, theoretically, sustain this relationship long-term? If we don't, would it destroy our relationship forever? Would you be comfortable when people asked us about our relationship?"

Ruby's mind was whirling, and she felt overwhelmed. She wasn't even sure that either of their teammates liked one of them, and they were talking about a long-term relationship? It seemed as if they were skipping more than a few steps.

"Yang, I... I don't think that's important."

"Why?"

"Because neither of them like us!" Ruby cried, sounding rather petulant.

Yang put a hand on Ruby's shoulder.

"But... what if they did, Ruby? Can't you just enjoy the possibility? Can't you just think that maybe, just maybe, we could have a shot in the dark? Or do you want to just give up? It's up to you."

Silence filled the room for a little over a minute.

"I don't think I'd be jealous. I mean, as long as I could have an opportunity to kiss one of them too. I couldn't get mad at you when they make you happy, Yang."

Yang looked at Ruby with pride.

"Yeah, me too, Rubes."

"And I can't imagine that, if we ever really did get the chance to date them or whatever, we would ever let them go."

Yang laughed, nodding.

"You're right."

"And I don't think anything could ever tear us apart," Ruby said, holding out her hand. Yang took it, grinning.

The two sat in loving silence until Yang broke it.

"Rubes?"

"Yeah?"

"I think I'm in love with them."

"I know, Yang. I am too."

"This sucks."

"I know, Yang."


	18. Contemplations

Blake had always been bad with emotions. After all, she'd thought she was in love with Adam of all people. She'd let him manipulate her and use her.

But Blake had never felt the need to be confused about emotions when she was with her teammates. She was always sure of their friendship and deep connection.

But, recently, Blake had found herself... contemplative.

There was something about their relationship, the four of them, that is, that Blake couldn't quite understand. Something had changed. That should have scared her, as the change in people had ever since... him... but she found that she was not frightened in the least. She was actually... excited?

She enjoyed the changes that had sprung up between them.

Ruby was, if possible, sweeter and more excitable when it came to her team.

Weiss was more open and affectionate with them.

Yang was gentler and had told them about her past, including her feelings about her mother's absence from her life.

The emotionally charged looks that seemed to communicate more than words ever could. The cooperation on the battlefield that came so naturally. The almost constant physical reassurance. The winks thrown her way from Yang. The gentle smiles from Ruby. The consistent checkups from Weiss.

All of these little changes had brought out a shift in Blake herself, but she couldn't put her finger on what it was.

Maybe it was the way she talked to her friends? Maybe it was the way she interacted with them. Maybe it was the way they looked at each other.

Or maybe it was that weird, brand new feeling that rose in her chest every time she saw them.

Blake never was good at emotions.


	19. Practice

The tournament had not been postponed, despite the dance being pushed until afterwards, and the classes were reflecting that.

Professor Port was talking about practice fights, though Yang and Ruby were barely paying attention. They were tossing notes, subtly, between themselves.

Blake's getting better, I think. She seems at least a little bit less stressed. Ruby's handwriting scrawled.

Yeah. She's been smiling more lately, too. Yang had responded.

"Girls, if you don't stop passing that note back and forth, I'll be forced to confiscate it and read it in front of the whole class."

Yang panicked and ripped the paper apart.

"Make sure it doesn't happen again. As I was saying, two teams will be selected to fight against one another. Today's teams will be... JNPR versus RWBY."

"Okay! Strategy time! I say we target Jaune first, get him out of the picture, and then go for Nora. We can't get Ren before we take her out, or she'll become twice as powerful due to rage," she said.

"Are we just going to ignore that Pyrrha Nikos is on this team?" Weiss asked, eyes narrowing.

"We isolate her and then save her for last. Weiss, distract her."

"What?! Why me?!" she cried, making the rest of the class look over at her. The rest of her team had been whispering, and Weiss had ruined the illusion of isolation.

"Because, you're the only one that has an effective long distance weapon. You keep her from hitting you, and we'll take the rest of them out!" Ruby said enthusiastically.

Weiss groaned.

"What? Don't trust us, Ice Queen?" Yang asked.

"Fine!" she snapped, huffing.

"Okay... break!" Ruby said, clapping her hands together.

The four girls made their way to the front of the classroom, lining up on one side while team JNPR did the same on the opposite side.

"For the record, I hate this plan," Weiss muttered.

"Duly noted," Blake said, tightening her grip on her short sword.

"Three... two... one!" the professor screamed.

Nora grinned like a maniac, swinging her hammer in front of her, eyes landing on Yang.

"Yang," Blake said under her breath.

"I know, I know," she groaned, spinning to face Ren with the rest of her teammates.

Ruby raced forward with her semblance and Ren raised his weapons, eyes darting back and forth as he watched her.

As Pyrrha raced toward team RWBY, only to be blocked by a glyph from Weiss.

She bounced off of it, frowning as she moved back and watched around her, clearly wondering if there were more glyphs she couldn't see.

Ruby reappeared behind Jaune, swinging her scythe at the back of his head.

"Jaune, watch out!" Pyrrha cried, distracted entirely from Weiss.

Yang took the opportunity to hit her in the side with a shot from her gauntlet.

Pyrrha grunted and spun on Yang.

Jaune ducked just a moment before Ruby could hit him, but she didn't let that slow her.

She spun in mid air, shifting her trajectory and slamming her scythe toward the ground.

Jaune tried to roll out of the way, but Ruby's weapon smashed against his chest harshly.

Jaune groaned and tried to scramble to his feet, almost falling over.

"Ladybug!" Blake called, tossing one of her weapons toward Ruby.

The team leader snatched it out of the air, pulling the ribbon taut and running forward at full speed.

Parallel to Ruby, Blake did the same.

The two of them held the ribbon low to the ground, at about stomach level for Jaune. Before he could do or say anything, the ribbon slammed against him, causing him to slam against the ground.

Ruby instantly spun, tossing Blake's weapon back to her before grabbing her scythe, which she had set behind her shoulder.

She pointed it straight at Jaune's face.

"Sorry, man."

"Wait!"

Ruby pulled the trigger and heard the sound of the buzzer.

Jaune had been disqualified, his aura completely drained, and he was laying on the ground, moaning.

"Ruthless," Blake said, grinning.

Ruby laughed and turned to face their next target, who was currently swinging her hammer at Yang.

"Blake, you know what to do," Ruby said before using her semblance to flash across the battlefield.

Ruby appeared once more in front of Nora, holding her scythe like a shield to block the block that was about to hit her sister.

"Took you long enough, Rubes," Yang said, grinning.

"Someone didn't quite stick to the plan," Ruby said, smirking.

"Not my fault that Valkyrie's insane. Why didn't you account for that in your planning?" Yang asked. As she spoke, Yang reared back her fist, twisting her whole body back with the force, and swung toward Nora.

Nora attempted to move her hammer to block the strike, but Ruby clung to the weapon with her own, hooking them together. Nora didn't seem to notice Ruby's weight as she began lifting the hammer, but hadn't taken one thing into consideration.

Ruby turned on her semblance and shot backwards, counteracting her light weight with pure speed, pulling Nora forward with her.

The other huntress in training let out a surprised sound as Yang's fist connected with her chest.

Nora slammed against the ground, groaning in frustration.

"Now that wasn't very fair," Nora said, pushing herself to her feet and dusting off her jacket.

She swung her hammer onto her shoulder and grinned, a dangerous glint appearing in her eyes.

Meanwhile, Weiss was firing glyphs at record speed, barely defending herself from Pyrrha's super speedy attacks.

"How's it coming?!" she screamed, throwing herself into a set of cartwheels to avoid Pyrrha's sword.

"We're working on it, Weiss!" Yang cried back.

Ruby ducked, narrowly avoiding Nora's Hammer of Death, and fired her sniper over her shoulder.

Pyrrha was forced to deflect the bullet, giving Weiss a moment of reprieve to collect herself before having to be thrown back into the frey.

Blake's keen eyes watched Ren as he snuck across the battlefield, nearing Nora and her adversaries.

Blake crouched down slightly before throwing her weapon forward.

Yang's hand snapped into the air, used to the sound of Blake's weaponry, and grabbed onto the ribbon. She yanked on it, blocking a punch from Nora with the other arm.

Blake held tightly to her weapon as she was flung across the room. She adjusted herself in midair, putting her legs in front of her, feet first. Ren looked up just in time to see Blake's shoes slam against his chest.

He groaned, and Nora's attention snapped to him.

"Ren?!" she cried.

Yang took the opportunity to fire a round from her gauntlets in Nora's gut.

Their orange-haired friend grunted, bringing her hammer down forcefully toward Yang.

The blonde brought up an arm, letting out a pained sound as Nora's weapon came into contact with her arm.

Ruby spun in a circle, using her semblance to gain an impossible speed, and swung her scythe at Nora's gut. The weapon struck home, and Ruby grinned.

"Pick up the pace!" Weiss screamed, glancing up at her aura level. It was at half.

"We're working on it!" Yang called back, firing another round at Nora, who blocked it with her hammer. The two weapons hitting one another creating a loud ringing sound in the air that reverberated through the entire classroom and echoing multiple times.

Blake grimaced, a hand jumping to her ear and distracting her enough to let Ren land a kick on her stomach.

Nora noticed and grinned, swinging her hammer at Ruby, who blocked it with Crescent Rose.

Another reverberation rang through the air and Blake narrowly avoided a strike from Ren.

"Rubes! Don't do that!" Yang snapped, throwing herself to the side as Nora swung at her again.

"Sorry, Blake!"

Blake was far too busy with Ren, having to deflect his myriad of kicks and punches that seemed to come faster and faster the longer they fought.

"Now?" Blake called.

"Ladybug!"

Blake threw her weapon at Ruby, who snatched it out of the air.

Blake's ribbons had, apparently, become an integral part of team dynamics and moves.

"Got her?" Ruby asked.

"Oh yeah, no problem."

Nora growled and swung at Yang at full force.

Yang threw herself to the side and stuck out her foot, tripping the other girl and causing her to go sprawling out on the floor.

Ruby activated her semblance, racing toward Ren and circling him tightly.

Before he knew what had happened, Blake's ribbon was tied tightly around his chest.

When she had finished, Ruby shot straight at Ren. He tried to wiggle out of the way, but the majority of the shots stuck him.

"Ren!" Nora screamed.

Ruby swung her scythe at him, knocking down the ninja's semblance a significant amount.

Blake shot at him too, but Ren was able to squirm out of the ribbon's grasp and narrowly avoid them.

"Little help!" Weiss screamed.

"Go," Blake said, staring Ren down and refilling her gun.

"Got it!"

Ruby used her semblance, racing toward Weiss. She grabbed the heiress around the waist, carrying her out of the way of Pyrrha's spear.

Weiss found herself in a blur of red petals and confusion.

Ruby stopped after a moment, setting down Weiss and grinning at her.

"You need a break?" Ruby asked.

"No, but you can't just pit me against Pyrrha on my own!" she snapped.

Yang threw herself to the ground to avoid Nora's hammer.

"Blake, how's it going?" she asked.

Blake threw up her forearm to block a kick from Ren.

"Fine. You?"

"Can't complain."

"Well I sure can!" Weiss howled as she blocked an attack from Pyrrha.

"Quit whining," Yang called, grinning.

Weiss internally wondered how she had ever fallen for the blonde. Annoying little pompous b-

Yang spun on her heel, narrowly avoiding Nora, and shot her gauntlet straight at Pyrrha, striking her in the back.

"You know we've got your back!" Yang said, winking at her as she made her pun.

Weiss' face burned.

Ah, yes, that was why.

Stupid, undeniably charming weirdo.

"Yang?" Blake called.

"Bumblebee?"

"On steroids," Blake agreed.

Yang threw herself to the side, catching sight of the auras out of the corner of her eye. Pyrrha was barely beneath full, Nora was inching toward half, and Ren was at a solid two thirds. Weiss was well under half, Blake was just a little lower than Ren, Yang was just kissing the halfway mark, and Ruby was at about three fourths.

Yang held out her hand behind her, not taking her eyes off of Nora.

Blake scrambled back and snatched onto her partner's hand.

"Ready?"

"Does it matter?"

"Nope!"

Yang tightened her grip on Blake's hand and yanked the other girl forward, causing Blake to careen through the air. Yang shot her gauntlet, narrowly avoiding Blake, and sped up her teammate's revolution.

Blake held her legs out, feet connecting with Nora's face before the other girl could understand what was happening.

Ren raised his gun, intent on shooting Blake, but Yang met him with her gauntlet, firing it as she passed.

It struck him in the chest and caused him to stumble backwards.

Nora grunted and brought a hand to her face, cradling the side of it.

"Now that was just rude, Blake!"

Yang set Blake down in front of Ren, spinning herself to face Nora and using the momentum to power her punch.

Nora grinned and rose her hammer.

The connection caused a deafening ringing in the air.

Yang instantly used the backwards force of their collision to spin right back around.

She grabbed onto Blake as she froze her attacks, doubling over and clutching her ears.

Ren, who had been attempting to take advantage of the loud noise, was surprised to find Yang's fist slamming against his face.

"Ren!" Nora screamed as he was thrown to the side.

Yang vaulted over Blake, who ducked even farther and spun in a tight circle toward Nora.

Her weapon shot forward in a tight circle, looping its bow around Nora's foot.

She tugged on it, and the other girl slammed against the floor, groaning. Blake smirked. It was easy to take Nora down when you took advantage of her clumsiness.

Yang didn't let up on Ren, swinging her other fist and slamming it against his face.

A buzzer, finally, rang through the air.

Yang paused mid punch, stopping herself just before she could strike the disqualified student.

Nora screamed wordlessly and threw herself at Blake.

Yang grabbed her partner around the waist and pulled the pair of them back, causing both to narrowly avoid Nora's attack.

Meanwhile, Pyrrha's attacks were becoming more and more precise, using her semblance whenever she could against Weiss and Ruby with the little metal they wore.

Weiss was quite low on aura now, and was stumbling over herself occasionally, causing Ruby to use her semblance to keep Weiss from being hit.

"Weiss!" Blake shouted.

The heiress spun, trusting Ruby to cover her while she assisted Blake.

She created a few glyphs underneath Blake, which allowed her to shoot around Nora in a tight circle, shooting her gun whenever she could and landing at least three shots.

Underneath Nora, a glyph appeared, steadying her.

Nora was confused for a moment, but decided to take advantage of it. She went to swing her hammer at Yang, but was met with blazing red eyes and burning yellow hair.

Yang smirked just slightly before her fist connected with Nora's gut.

As Nora's body was thrown backward, the glyph stopped her from striking the ground. This caused her to shoot back upwards and collide with Yang's fist yet again.

Blake shot her in the back and the sides five more times, and a buzzer sounded in the air.

Nora cursed as she collapsed to the ground.

Blake and Yang gave each other tired grins before turning to face Weiss and Ruby.

"Hurry up!" Weiss screamed, deflecting an attack from Pyrrha with a glyph.

Yang and Blake raced toward the final member of team JNPR, taking a moment to evaluate the auras of the remaining fighters.

Pyrrha still had over ninety percent of her aura left, Ruby was now drooping a fair bit under half, Weiss had less than fifteen percent, and Blake and Yang were both just a touch under the halfway point.

The four members of team RWBY circled Pyrrha, trading blows with the final remaining member of team JNPR.

Her attention seemed on Weiss, her gaze narrowed as she threw her shield toward the heiress.

It struck her before any of her teammates could help her, and she fell to the ground.

"Weiss!" three voices called as one.

The heiress tumbled to the ground backwards, her aura less than a percent away from disqualification.

Pyrrha seemed to dismiss her after a moment, turning her focus to Ruby.

The team leader growled lowly, looking like she was about to attack her head on. But, suddenly, she disappeared, leaving behind nothing but red rose petals.

She reappeared beside Blake, grabbing her teammate around the waist.

"Hold on!" she called.

The two disappeared into red flower petals and circled Pyrrha faster than the eye could see.

Pyrrha attempted to follow them, but found herself distracted as Yang attempted to land an attack.

Ruby suddenly stopped and threw Blake at Pyrrha with the momentum she had gathered.

Ruby provided cover fire with her sniper while Blake soared toward Pyrrha, prepared to tackle the other girl to the ground.

Pyrhha seemed to flow like water out of the way, avoiding countless bullets from Ruby and avoiding Blake, who was forced to roll across the ground to gain her footing.

Yang shot her gauntlet at Pyrrha, who threw up her shield to block it.

The three girls continued to hammer themselves against Pyrrha, but in the course of five minutes Yang's aura was down to a fourth, Ruby was even less than that, and Blake was a little above Yang's. All they had to show for it was Pyrrha's aura dipping down to eighty percent, and she certainly hadn't broken a sweat during this entire exchange.

Ruby's mind whirled and spun, but she couldn't come up with a plan that could plausibly save them from their inevitable loss.

As Blake, Yang, and Ruby fought against Pyrrha, all four failed to notice Weiss pushing herself to her feet.

Pyrrha's fist connected with Yang's face while she blocked a gunshot from Ruby, causing the bullet to ricochet off and hit Blake.

Weiss growled.

"Don't touch them!" she called deliriously, throwing herself into the battle.

She tore several pieces of dust from her rapier's holder and leapt at Pyrrha, crushing the dust pieces in her fist.

A loud explosion shook the entire classroom and caused a huge billowing cloud of smoke to spread across the entirety of the battlefield.

It slowly cleared and team RWBY raced toward the center of it, coughing and blowing it out from in front of their face.

"Weiss?! WEISS!" they called.

When the smoke finally cleared, they saw both Weiss and Pyrrha laying on the ground, unconscious, both of their auras drained.

Yang bent down and scooped Weiss into her arms, holding the heiress gently.

"Should we take her to the infirmary?" Blake asked, eyes filling with fear.

"Give her to me! I can get her there faster!" Ruby said worriedly.

Yang was in the process of transferring Weiss into Ruby's arms when the heiress gently awoke, staring up at the rest of her team.

She coughed, grasping her chest.

"Are you guys alright?" she asked

Ruby and Yang burst out laughing, relief flowing through the pair of them.

Blake reached down and grabbed onto Weiss' hand, squeezing it tightly.

"Did we win?" Weiss asked after realizing the rest of her team was alright.

"Yeah... yeah, we won," Blake said.

"Good," Weiss muttered, letting her eyes fall shut once again.

Yang shifted her grip on the heiress so she could hold her better.

Pyrrha started to stir on the ground, and her team slowly surrounded her, many of them limping.

The entire classroom was silent, but team RWBY wouldn't have heard anything but each other, even if it was deafening. The four were the only ones that existed to each other in this moment, lost in each other, as always.


	20. Healing

Weiss groaned as she attempted to sit up, grabbing her abdomen.

Ruby used her semblance to hurry to Weiss' side.

"Are you okay, Weiss?" she asked worriedly, leaning closer to her friend.

"No, Ruby, I just blew myself up!" Weiss whined.

"It was pretty badass, though," Yang said, grinning.

"Yeah it was!" Ruby cheered.

Blake sat down on the bed beside Weiss, setting a hand on her head calmingly.

"Do you want some cookies? That's what I always like when I'm upset!" Ruby said.

Weiss opened her mouth to respond, but Ruby steam rolled over her.

"Oh, wait! I don't have any cookies!" she said, eyes wide with horror.

Blake reached into her backpack and grabbed a small brown bag, tossing it at Ruby, who caught it easily.

Ruby opened the bag and found several dozen cookies inside her. Her mouth watered and she stared up at Blake. She almost dropped the bag as she threw herself at Blake, wrapping her arms around the other girl's waist.

The two tumbled back onto the bed.

"Thank you!" Ruby cried, nuzzling into Blake's neck.

Blake felt her eyes widen and her heart beat pick up.

"That's so sweet of you to have cookies for me!" Ruby said, her heart filling with love.

"Of course I have cookies for you, Ruby. You love them," Blake said, staring back up at the team leader, who blushed.

Ruby suddenly remembered the cookies themselves and turned back to Weiss.

"Here!" she said, holding up a cookie for Weiss.

"Ruby, I-"

Ruby shoved the cookie into Weiss' face and the heiress was all but forced to take a bite of it.

The young team leader's expression filled with hope and pride.

"See? Is it helping?" she asked.

Weiss couldn't find it in herself to be mad at Ruby, so she nodded.

Ruby moved the cookie back to her mouth after that, holding it for Weiss to take a bite.

Weiss thought about snapping at the younger girl to tell her that she could feed herself, but stopped when she saw that innocent look in Ruby's eyes.

Weiss ate the cookie silently, making Blake laugh and roll her eyes at the pair.

Her chest was filled with that familiar feeling she had been getting around her teammates lately, but had no name for.

Yang threw herself onto the bed, though she was careful to avoid jostling the heiress, and grabbed a cookie.

"The plane's coming in for a landing!" she said, grinning as she moved the food to Weiss' mouth.

Weiss bit her and Yang swore, shaking her hand back and forth.

"What was that for?! I gave you a cookie!" Yang cried.

"You know what you did," Weiss said after she had finished eating.

Blake felt at peace withe the other girls around her, and she felt that feeling filling her to the brim once more.

She felt as if she was so close to understanding what it was, if she could just have a little longer-

A knock on the door shocked them all from their thoughts.

"Ms. Belladonna? May I have a word?" Ozpin asked from outside.

The four girls stopped, glancing at one another.

"You want one of us to come with you?" Ruby asked.

"It's alright," Blake said, pushing herself off the bed and making her way to the door.

-

Blake and Professor Ozpin were sitting in his office, and had been for almost three minutes now.

The silence was deafening, and the awkward tension was stifling.

"Professor, is there a reason that you called me in here? Am I in some kind of trouble?" Blake finally asked.

"Of course not, Ms. Belladonna. In fact, I think it's quite the opposite."

Blake waited for him to elaborate, but he didn't.

"What do you mean?"

Before he could respond, Blake heard the door swinging open behind them.

She turned in her seat and lost her voice, eyes wide with unused tears as she stared, disbelievingly, at her parents.

-

"Mom? Dad?" Blake breathed, eyes wide with disbelief.

"Blake," Kali said, voice heavy with emotion.

The three stood still, staring at each other for a long moment.

Suddenly, Blake threw herself at her parents, hugging them tightly.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered, beginning to cry.

Kali ran her hand over her daughter's head, crying gently.

"You don't need to apologize, Blake," she whispered.

Ghira set his hand on her shoulder supportively, looking a bit awkward.

His wife gestured for him to join them with a quick nod, and he wrapped his large arms around his family, which was finally complete once more.

After a minute, the three pulled back enough to see one another. Kali cradled her daughter's face with one hand, eyes brimming with more tears.

"I... what are you doing here?" Blake asked dumbly.

"I know we raised you to have more manners than that," Kali said, smiling thinly.

Blake has the decency to blush slightly.

"I'm sorry, it's just... I wasn't expecting...," she trailed off.

"We saw you on the news and packed our bags," Ghira said.

Blake set her head down on her mother's shoulder, intent to enjoy their closeness.

The headmaster has already exited the room silently, a small smile on his face at the tearful reunion.

The family gravitated toward a set of chairs, taking a seat and starting to catch up for lost time.

Blake didn't want to discuss her time with the White Fang, but her father was rather insistent.

She gave them a quick summary of it, which made both of her parents ache for their poor daughter.

She finished the story and there was silence for several heart wrenching seconds, causing Blake to sweat.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, "I shouldn't have run."

Ghira set a hand on her knee, forcing her to look up into his eyes.

"None of this is your fault, Blake. We don't blame you for what you couldn't stop."

Blake sobbed in their arms.

-

"Do you think Blake's alright?" Weiss asked worriedly, pacing back and forth in their dorm room.

"I'm sure she is," Yang said calmingly, though internally she reverberated with uncertainty.

What if's plagued her thoughts, and she forced herself to focus on calming her teammates.

She stood and put her hands on Weiss' shoulders, stopping the heiress in her tracks and causing her to look up.

"Weiss, she's going to be alright."

The white-haired girl sighed, letting herself sink into Yang's arms, despite the fiery blush it caused her.

"I know... I'm just worried."

"We all are," Ruby whispered.

-

Blake had stopped crying and now sat across from her parents, trying not to succumb to the awkwardness in the air.

"So, tell us about school, Blake," her mother said, clearly trying to change the subject.

"Well, there's not much to say. My grades are good, Ruby and Yang's have been improving thanks to Weiss-"

Her parents frowned at her in confusion and Blake realized her mistake.

"Those are my teammates; Ruby, Yang, and Weiss."

Blake has almost forgotten that her parents didn't know the other girls. Blake felt like she'd known them forever.

Blake told them tidbits about her education, but every anecdote included one or more of her teammates in them.

"Blake," Ghira said, interrupting Blake after one of her stories, which had been about the time Ruby and Yang had gotten them tangled up in a food fight with team JNPR, much to Weiss' horror at the time.

"Yes, dad?"

"This Weiss wouldn't happen to be Weiss Schnee, would she?"

Blake shifted awkwardly, weighing her words.

"Yes, but before you say anything, she's nothing like her father! I mean, she kind of was when we first met, but she's grown! She knows I'm a faunus and even threatened someone when they insulted me for... anyways, she's sweet and kind, nothing like you'd expect."

Blake grinned slightly, imaging her teammate's face when she continued to speak.

"She'd disagree with me, but she's a softy, really, once you get to know her."

Ghira held up his hand to stop Blake from continuing.

"I think we get the picture, Honey," Kali said, smiling almost secretively.

Blake didn't understand the expression, so she dismissed it.

"I'd love to meet her and the rest of your team," Ghira said, and Blake positively beamed.

"That sounds great!" Blake said.

She composed herself slightly, blushing at her childish excitement.

"I mean, if you want to, that is."

-

Ruby groaned and rolled over on Blake's bed sullenly.

"How long is she going to taaaake?"

Just as she finished speaking, the door started to open.

The three girls jumped to their feet, racing toward it with varying success.

Yang and Ruby bumped into each other, causing the younger (and far smaller) of the pair to fall backwards. She snatched onto Yang's hand to balance herself, causing her sister to all but drag her toward the door.

Blake's head poked in, a wide grin on her face.

"Blake!" Ruby said enthusiastically.

"Is everything alright?" Yang asked, sensing some trepidation from her partner.

"What did he want to talk to you about?" Weiss asked, sounding annoyed. She didn't like the idea of their headmaster isolating Blake for some sort of questioning.

"Everything's fine...," Blake glanced over her shoulder.

"Guys, there's someone I'd like you to meet."

She opened the door fully, revealing two faunus. Kali waved with a small smile while Ghira crosses his arms, eyeing them with more than a bit of distrust in his eyes.

"My parents!"


	21. Introductions

Yang was the first to react, grinning at Blake.

"It's great to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Belladonna," Yang said.

"I thought you weren't talking to them," Ruby whispered to Blake, though not quiet enough to avoid faunus detection.

Weiss slapped Ruby on the arm, glaring at her.

"We... weren't. That's why Professor Ozpin called me into his office. They just arrived."

"That's great, Blake! I'm so happy for you!" Ruby said, throwing her arms around her friend and hugging her tightly.

"It... it's an honor to meet you," Weiss said, her voice sounding awkward as she held out her hand to shake theirs.

Ghira and Kali glanced at each other, clearly wondering if the heiress was nervous to touch a faunus.

Blake discreetly waves them forward, causing her father to take Weiss' hand and shake it firmly.

"Blake's told us all about you three," Kali said, grinning at her daughter's teammates.

Yang smirked, eyeing her partner.

Blake wasn't sure why, but her face suddenly felt warm.

"I... may have mentioned to you all once or twice," Blake said.

"More than that, sweetie," Kali said, shaking her head.

Blake wished her mother hadn't said anything, because it made an insufferable grin grow on Yang's face.

"I'm Yang Xiao Long, Blake's favorite," Ruby protested loudly, "and this annoying brat is my sister, Ruby. And this little ray of sunshine," she gestured at their final teammate, who grimaced, "is Weiss, though you probably know her."

"Yang!" Weiss hissed.

Kali watched the four girls playfully bicker for a moment before Yang turned her attention back to Blake's parents.

"So, Tell me about little Blake. Tell me you brought those embarrassing baby photos every parent seems to have," Yang said, rubbing her hands together.

Blake glared at her over her mother's shoulder, but it didn't seemed to diminish the blond's enthusiasm. If anything, it just served to make her more excited.

"I'm... afraid we don't have any of those with us," Ghira said, now eyeing Yang oddly.

"Darn! Guess we'll have to settle for embarrassing stories, right, Rubes?" Yang asked.

The brunette tried to hide her smile unsuccessfully.

Weiss shifted slightly, her attention peaked.

Blake groaned internally.

"Well, there was this one time when she was little where she-"

Blake cut in quickly.

"It's getting late! Maybe we should get some dinner!" Blake said desperately.

She didn't seem to realize she'd stepped on a land mine.

Yang, however, recognized the opportunity instantly.

"That sounds great! I'm starved!"

"But what about-"

Yang put a hand on her sister's shoulder to stop her from continuing.

"I'm sure we'll have a lot to talk about over dinner! Weiss, what's the name of that place you've been pestering us to try?"

"Calisto's," she said.

"Great! Let's go anywhere but there!" Yang responded, grinning.

"Hey!" Weiss called, looking offended.

"How about Burny's?" Ruby suggested.

Yang snapped her fingers and pointed at her sister.

"Yes! That's perfect! We'll be out in a second, Mr. and Mrs. Belladonna! Just give us a minute to change!" Yang said, shepherding them to the door.

She closed it behind them, spinning to face her teammates with a wide grin.

"This is going to be spectacular!"

Blake groaned.

"Don't embarrass me," she said.

"Now why on earth would we try to do that?" Yang asked, faking innocence.

Blake stared at her, eyes narrowed.

Yang threw her arm around Blake's shoulders, moving her face to the faunus' own.

"Blake, you're my partner, I'd never knowingly hurt you!"

Blake felt her heart suddenly constrict, though she didn't know why.

"But I will do everything in my power to embarrass you tonight and become the daughter your parents never had."

Blake barely found her voice as Yang continued to invade her personal space.

"They have a daughter," Blake said.

"Yeah, but they could have two!"

"Or four!" Ruby piped up. Weiss stared at the floor.

Ruby, thankfully, distracted Blake from Yang and gave her a moment to compose herself after... whatever had happened a moment ago.

Yang pulled away after a moment and headed toward the closet. She threw open the door and looked around for a moment before her eyes landed on a black jacket that certainly didn't belong to her.

Blake raised an eyebrow at her, and Yang shrugged, grinning.

Ruby, unsubtly, placed one of her shirts on Blake's bed, looking away and whistling as soon as she had.

Blake raised an eyebrow at her.

Weiss rolled her eyes at Ruby.

"Unbelievable, Ruby," she said with a scoff.

Ruby's face reddened slightly.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Weiss," she muttered.

Blake picked up the shirt and felt a small grin forming on her face.

She walked over to the dresser and opened a few drawers, rifling through them until she found what she wanted.

She pulled out another shirt, this one equally small on her.

Blake tossed Ruby's at Weiss, who caught it a moment before it struck her in the face.

Ruby watched the exchange curiously.

Blake changed quickly, sliding on the heiress' shirt and throwing her jacket back on.

Blake didn't notice that three pairs of eyes had lingered on her as she did so.

Weiss, blushing, looked down at Ruby's shirt.

Did it really matter if she wore someone else's clothes?

Normally, no. But this wasn't normal for Weiss, considering she had a rather massive crush on the owner of this particular article of clothing.

She sighed and slipped it on, trying to ignore the excitement that shot through her at the action.

Ruby stared at Weiss for a long moment, making the heiress redden slightly.

"I want a shirt then! I'm not the only one going without something!" Ruby said, dashing over to the drawer.

She let out a proud "ahha!" as soon as she found a shirt of Blake's which was a few sizes too big for her. She didn't mind, slipping it on without a second thought.

"What? Nobody wants my stuff? Rude!" Yang protested.

Blake snatched her discarded jacket and slid it on.

"Stop complaining, we're probably taking so long my parents are worried," Blake said.

Her team followed her out of the dorm room and into the hall. They were met by both of Blake's parents... and the entirety of team JNPR.

"And then Blake totally came out of nowhere and shot me like BOOM!" Nora cried, throwing her hands up in the air in an imitation of an explosion.

"Right, Ren?!"

"It was a fight to remember," he said solemnly.

"Speak for yourself! I barely got to even see any of it!" Jaune complained.

Pyrrha put a consoling hand on his shoulder.

"You've been getting better, as of late. I'm sure you'll be more than prepared for the tournament."

"You mean the tournament that's next week? Yeah, right," Jaune sulked.

"Hey, Blake! You didn't tell me that your parents were here!" Nora cried loudly, waving at the cat faunus.

"We just arrived," Ghira said, arms crossed against his chest.

One would have thought he was frustrated by Nora, but there was a small smile on his lips.

"I'd love to hear the rest of this story, but we're going to dinner. Finish it later?" Kali asked. She was intent on finding out everything she could about her daughter and her new friends now that she was here.

Blake mentally face palmed, though she knew Nora wouldn't be the biggest worry.

As if summoned, Yang stepped up to Blake's parents, grinning.

"You guys are gonna love this place!"

"Meeting the parents, eh Weiss?" Nora whispered, elbowing the heiress.

"I regret ever confiding in you," Weiss hissed, face burning.

Nora just laughed.

-

Conversation was casual on the way to dinner, but Kali found herself somewhat distracted at some points.

She still listened, but something tickled the back of her thoughts.

Was Blake's new shirt smaller than the one earlier? She was quite sure it was. Was Blake's jacket a different color than her normal clothing, perhaps even identical to Yang's? Maybe. Was Ruby wearing a shirt at least three sizes too big? Certainly. Was Yang wearing a jacket that barely fit around her broad shoulders? Was it a familiar black one? Also yes.

But none of that was enough to truly draw her attention for more than a minute.

What was really different was the smell.

She could smell Blake's scent on the other members of her team, and Blake had the smell of them as well.

She finally put it together.

They were all wearing the wrong clothes. The revelation shocked her, but mostly because it had clearly been purposeful. They had taken the time to change and swap articles of clothing.

Typically Kali would assume... but Blake was wearing Ruby's shirt and Yang's jacket, which only served to confuse her more.

"Here we are! You'll love it, trust me!" Ruby threw open the doors and waved at the cook, who grunted back at her.

"The usual?" he asked after a moment.

"And a little more!"

The group sat down at a large table, Blake's parents across from Blake and her team. Blake would have sat with her parents, but the majority of their booth was taken up by her father and she didn't have any room.

Ruby leaned forward excitedly, pulling up the menu and quickly scanning through it, even though she always got the same thing.

Ghira stared at the menu, eyes narrowed.

Tuna, swordfish, sushi, and salmon stuck out to him immediately.

He set down the paper and stared Ruby and Yang down.

"Did you take us here because it serves fish?" he asked lowly.

Ruby frowned in confusion.

"I mean, the fish is good," she said.

Yang looked just as confounded, glancing at Weiss with a raised eyebrow.

The heiress shrugged slightly, expressing her own thoughts toward the situation.

Yang glanced at Blake and her gaze fell on her ears. Her eyes turned as wide as saucers and she started to frantically wave her hands in front of her.

"Oh, no! Nothing like that, Rubes and I just really like the burgers. Plus, Blake really likes this place!" she said hurriedly.

Ruby, sweet, innocent Ruby, turned to face Blake, who was seated beside her.

"Is that a stereotype?" she whispered.

Blake almost groaned at the brunette's inability to properly whisper.

"Yes, it is a stereotype that cat faunus enjoy fish," Ghira said, not taking his eyes off of the two sisters.

"That certainly was not our intention in bringing you here, sir," Weiss said quickly.

Kali put a hand on her husband's shoulder to calm him.

"I'm sure it wasn't," she said.

Blake uncomfortably glanced at the menu. She typically ordered the sushi, but now she wasn't sure about it. She didn't want her parents to think she was feeding into these stereotypes.

When the waiter arrived, Weiss was the first to speak.

"I'll take the sushi, please," she said, glancing at Blake, who was seated beside her.

Blake caught on and ordered Weiss' usual, a salad platter.

Thankfully, the two sisters kept their mouths shut as Blake's parents got burgers.

"So, tell me everything about little Blake," Yang said, grinning.

Blake glared at her, kicking her under the table.

"I'm sure they don't want to talk about that-"

Kali interrupted her daughter, laughing.

"What do you want to know?"

"Embarrassing stories, childhood friends, you know, the works," Yang said, counting on her fingers.

"Well, she did have a stuffed animal, a little lion named Mr. Roar. She left him behind when...," Kali trailed off.

There was a moment of silence before Ghira reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a small plush toy. It was wore from years of use, one of the eyes was clearly resown after having fallen off, and the hair from the mane was matted deeply.

Blake's eyes shot to the lion.

"You kept him?" she whispered.

Kali looked at the lion with shock. She hadn't known that Ghira had kept it with him.

He held it out silently.

Blake's hand shot out and snatched the toy from her father's hand, shoving it into the jacket's pocket.

Yang covered her mouth with one hand to cover the fond smile on her face.

Ruby almost giggled.

"Mr. Roar?" Yang asked.

Blake gave her a dark glare.

Conversation continued on, Yang trying to get as much information about little Blake as Kali was trying to get about current Blake. It was a great match for them. A horrible, embarrassing one for Blake.

Yang burst out laughing at another story from Kali, Ruby joining in after a minute and giving Blake a somewhat apologetic look.

Blake just sighed.

Weiss even looked intrigued, listening in rapt silence.

Blake just hoped she could get through dinner.


	22. A Mess of Emotions

Yang closed the dorm room door behind her, grinning.

"Well, I think that went pretty well," she said.

Blake rolled her eyes.

"Kit-Kat, what's wrong?" she asked, smirking.

"I can't believe she told you about that," Blake groaned at the sound of her childhood nickname.

"I think it's adorable!" Ruby cried.

Yang nodded in agreement.

"I don't think they liked me," Weiss said, wincing slightly.

"Why not?" Ruby asked, eyes confused.

Weiss just stared at her, eyebrow raised.

Ruby made an "o" shape with her mouth once she realized it.

"I'm sure they liked you just fine, Weiss," Blake said, setting Yang's jacket down on the table.

"What makes you so sure? It's not as if my family been particularly... accepting of faunus."

"You're not your family, Weiss. Plus, I'd never be close with someone so avidly against faunus."

Weiss stared at her with the same expression her sister had called "lovesick." She knew it was stupid, but Blake's flippant decision to use the word "close" rather than "friends" had made her heart melt.

"Thanks, Blake."

Blake glanced at her teammates, making sure they weren't looking at her, before placing Mr. Roar gently on her bedside table.

-

Blake didn't know exactly what had changed. But as her teammates started to crawl into her bed, as they had been doing for the past few days, Blake felt her heart start to race.

Blake was sandwiched in between Yang and Ruby tonight, the two of them pushed flush against her due to the size of the bed.

Yang's head was resting on Blake's shoulder, her breathing sending a chill down her spine as it rustled against Blake's hair. Her arms were wrapped around Blake, her hands coming to rest at the base of her stomach.

Ruby had moved in her sleep to face Blake, causing Weiss to hold onto her to avoid being evicted from the bed, and was now curled up against Blake's chest like a small animal. Her head was on her chest and her arms were wrapped around Blake, clutching her tightly.

Ruby shifted in her sleep, tightening her grip around Blake.

Blake heard her heart pounding in her chest.

Ruby was adorable, even asleep.

Not to mention Weiss, whose face was relaxed and calm in a beautiful way that it never was when she was awake. The only drawback was that her gorgeous icy eyes were shut.

And Yang had her face so close to Blake's that all she had to do was turn slightly and they'd-

Blake felt her face flush with heat.

What was wrong with her?!

Blake didn't fall asleep until half and hour later, once she had finally distracted herself from the rather... odd thoughts about her teammates.

Though, the next morning was rather awkward for her, especially when Ruby didn't want to wake up and buried her face in what she thought was a pillow.

-

Weiss didn't know how much longer she could take this.

She had deep, undeniable, and unavoidable feelings for her teammates. And it was horrible.

Well, horrible might not be the right word for it, but at some points it was very accurate.

When she was watching Ruby laugh, it was wonderful.

But when Ruby got so close that Weiss could smell the ever-present scent of cookies on her breath, it felt like torture.

When she heard Yang make one of her stupid puns and make that stupid grin of her, the feeling in Weiss' chest was perfect.

But when Yang asked her how things between her and Neptune were going, her chest constricted in the most horrible way imaginable.

When Blake laid her head on Weiss' lap and let her run a hand over her cute little cat ears, Weiss felt so at peaceful.

But when Blake called her a friend, her stomach churned, creating a horrible and nauseous feeling.

But it was particularly torturous when she spoke to Pyrrha and Nora.

Pyrrha had told her to consider confessing her feelings, but Weiss knew that she couldn't. The idea of having to utter her feelings to one of her teammates was terrifying on its own, but three of them? That was too much for her to bear, even in her imagination.

And so Weiss stewed in her own emotions, having no outlet for them, even as they built up more and more.

As she lay in bed, pretending to be asleep, she realized that she no longer had a crush on her friends, which would have been a relief, had she not also come to the revelation that she was in love with them.

She was lucky she didn't scream.

-

Ruby was enthusiastic over her emotions.

She was in love! She'd been dreaming of this day since she was a little kid! Though, admittedly, as a child she had always imagined a Prince Charming sweeping her off of her feet. Not a cat faunus and an heiress, but that wasn't too important.

What mattered was that she was filled to the brim with emotions and love, but she couldn't show it! She couldn't tell her teammates how she felt!

Also, her sister had the same feelings toward the two girls, which was kind of awkward. But they were managing.

Ruby was never one that could sit still. She was constantly moving and vibrating with energy. She was the same with emotion, and her inability to express it was frustrating to say the very least.

She wanted to tell Blake and Weiss how they felt, but Yang seemed hesitant. Ruby hoped she changed her mind soon, because the next time Blake leaned over to whisper in her ear during class or Weiss ran a hand along her arm... Ruby was going to explode and scream how she felt, wherever they were.

And that would probably not end well.

-

Yang was hesitant to tell her teammates how she felt, despite Ruby's constant pestering.

The two of them had been laying on the flirting heavily for a while now, and it seemed as if both Blake and Weiss had reciprocated, but Yang was pretty sure she was imagining it.

After all, what were the odds that Blake and Weiss would like both Ruby and herself?! Yang thought they were next to zero.

Despite that, she still, foolishly, held hope that they would.

And that made her desire to confess even stronger.

But she wasn't ready, and she was starting to think she might never be. At least, not without Ruby. With her sister... Yang had always felt like twice the person she really was.

Maybe everything would end up like her dreams.

When's she slept, Yang could imagine a future for the four of them.

She could see herself kissing Blake and Weiss, yes... but she could also see big moments in their relationships. Their first date, which would be a bit awkward with Ruby there too... their marriage... children...

Yang truly was a mess for those two girls, and she had no idea how to fix it.


	23. Realizations (3.0)

Classes passed unbearably slowly for Blake.

She wanted to see her parents, and wishing for time to pass quicker only made it slow down.

But that wasn't the only thing messing with her head.

Every minuscule movement from her teammates had suddenly gained so much more meaning to her, and she couldn't stand it.

Ruby would smile at her, and she'd wonder what she'd done to make the adorable brunette so happy for fifteen minutes.

Yang would laugh at a joke, and Blake would scour her brain high and low to find any others that might make her repeat the sound.

Weiss would let her hand graze Blake's own, perhaps completely on accident, and the faunus would feel her breath hitch.

Something was wrong with her brain, she was sure of it. Nothing remotely like this had ever happened to her before, and it was highly disconcerting.

A piece of paper hit her in the side of the face and she jumped, glancing at its origin.

Yang grinned and waved back at her.

Blake read the note quickly.

For once I'm the one paying attention and you're the one day dreaming!

"Ms. Belladonna, would you please repeat what I just said?" Professor Port said suddenly, causing Blake to jump comically.

She panicked, scrambling to remember what he had been rambling on about this time.

Behind the professor's back, Ruby mimed punching something.

Weiss sighed and tried to draw letters in the air.

"You were talking about...," Blake paused to consider for a second, "the tournament, which is being held in," she glanced at Yang, "two days."

"Thank you, team RWBY for that stunning response," the teacher said dryly before returning back to his lesson.

Blake groaned internally.

She needed to fix this fast... whatever it was.

-

"Last one to our next class is a Grimm!" Ruby said, grinning.

"You're on!" Yang said, running down the hall.

Weiss had on her "I am above such foolish nonsense" face, which made Ruby ignore her and turn to Blake.

"Come on!" she grabbed the faunus by the hands and tugged Blake toward her.

"Hang on!" she said, wrapping her arms around Blake's waist. The faunus only had time to put her hands on Ruby's shoulders before the pair disappeared into a flurry of red rose petals.

When they reappeared, just outside their next classroom, Blake stared down at Ruby, who was laughing at her irate sister. The small brunette was still holding Blake loosely, her face filled with enthusiasm.

As the faunus stared at her, she remembered why she loved nothing more than making Ruby laugh. But, suddenly, she was struck by a new thought. Blake wanted to wipe the grin off of Ruby's face. But not in a malicious way. She just wanted the team leader's lips to be... otherwise encumbered by her own.

The idea made her face flush red in equal parts surprise and embarrassment.

"That's cheating, Ruby!" Yang claimed as she finally reached them.

"Is not!"

"Is too! No semblances!"

"That's not fair!"

Blake was unable to follow the conversation, as she was, understandably, distracted.

Since when did she want to kiss Ruby?!

-

Lunch was coming to an end, and Blake had finally distracted herself from the odd thoughts she'd had about Ruby. Things happened, people thought weird things sometimes. It wasn't anything for her to obsess over.

"Nora, I'm eating," Yang said, though she was already grinning.

Blake forced herself to tune back into the conversation, confused.

"Aw, c'mon, you know you wanna know!" Nora countered, her elbow propped up on the table with her hand splayed open.

Yang rolled her eyes, but she slammed her elbow onto the table as well, clutching Nora's hand with her own.

Moments later, the pair was locked in an arm wrestling match.

"Come on, Yang!" Ruby cheered enthusiastically.

Weiss rolled her eyes at the childishness of the two girls, but her gaze landed on Yang a suspiciously large number of times. Her eyes specifically landing on her biceps.

"Hey, Blake, how about a little bit of encouragement?" Yang asked, glancing at her teammate and smirking.

Blake was sure that Yang hadn't meant it... that way, but it brought an image into Blake's mind.

One of her kissing a victorious Yang, in a very non-platonic way.

Yang looked at her with that same smirk that Blake could almost call flirtatious, which certainly didn't make this any easier on her.

She realized, with a start, that Yang still wanted her to say something.

"If you win, maybe I'll help you with that essay for Professor Port that you've been procrastinating on," Blake said. She tried to keep a straight face and not show her sudden internal crisis, but she was certain her face was turning a light shade of pink or red.

Her words seemed to work, as Yang slammed Nora's hand against the table a minute later.

"I'm holding you to that," Yang said, pointing a finger at Blake.

Blake could only nod dumbly, not sure she could form a coherent sentence if she tried.

First Ruby and now Yang?! What was going on with her today?!

-

Blake was having a rather rough day, and classes hadn't even ended yet.

Her mind could barely focus on her lessons for a minute before it distracted her with thoughts of Ruby and Yang.

Thankfully, team RWBY had a free study period and Blake could get a break from her teachers constantly berating her for her uncharacteristically distracted state.

The team had even decided to spend the next fifty minutes in the library. That was Blake's natural habitat, after all, and she felt far more safe in this environment. Here, she could bury her head in a book and distract her mind from the weird thoughts and feelings she was getting for two of her teammates.

As Blake hid herself in the shelves and perused them for her potential next read, she suddenly heard a groan of frustration. It was a familiar sound, which caused her to peel around a corner, finding Weiss glaring at the bookshelf's top row as if it had insulted her. Perhaps it had, considering it was far out of her reach.

Blake barely stopped herself from laughing as the heiress stomped her foot in annoyance. As she was attempting to clear her expression, Weiss struggled, in vein, to reach the top shelf, stretching her arm as far as it would reach in her attempts.

At the movement, Blake realized for the first time how small Weiss was. She portrayed an air of importance, likely subconsciously, that made her appear taller than she truly was. But she was hardly Ruby's height when she wore her high heels.

Blake suddenly thought that Weiss could barely reach her chin with the top of her head...

The image of Weiss struggling to reach the top shelf was suddenly morphed into a valiant effort to reach Blake. Specifically on her lips.

Blake pushes the thought away, once again finding herself thoroughly confounded by her decidedly non-platonic thoughts toward her teammates. Three for three in one day.

Weiss turned around and spotted Blake, making the cat faunus suddenly flush.

"Are you just going to stand there laughing, or are you going to help me?" Weiss asked, crossing her arms as her face turned a light shade of pink.

Blake jumped and hurried forward, reaching an arm almost lazily into the air and grabbing the book Weiss had been eyeing.

Unbeknownst to Blake, Weiss watched her with a somewhat embarrassed expression that soon mixed with fond.

"Thank you," the heiress said. She paused and, after a moment, added, "Don't tell Yang about this," before returning to team RWBY's table.

Blake watched her go before groaning.

There was definitely something wrong with her.

Why else would she be ogling her teammates and daydreaming of kissing them?!

The idea was just ridiculous!

Why would she ever kiss one of her teammates, or they her?

That thought made her heart sink.

Blake had never been good with emotions, clearly, but that was enough for even her to realize just what was happening to her.

She had... feelings for her teammates.

That was so much worse than what she'd been imagining.


	24. Reunions

Blake was starting to go insane.

Classes had just ended, and she had quickly excused herself from her friends to see her parents.

But that wasn't the only reason she didn't want to be around them. She was having far more trouble with her emotions than she would like to admit.

She'd only had one crush on her life, and that was on Adam. That hadn't ended well. But her feelings for him hadn't been anything like her feelings for her team.

And it was insane. She liked all three of them?! How was that even possible?!

She groaned and tried to clear her head as she walked out of the school toward the hotel her parents were staying at.

She was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't notice her aura warning her about a figure watching her from a tree.

Blake continued down the path, lost in her thoughts.

She turned down an alleyway, which was darkly lit and vacant of any life. Blake barely noticed.

The footsteps behind her are what finally made her spin, but it was too late.

A foot collided with her stomach and Blake was sent tumbling to the ground, a form sprawling on top of her and attempting to incapacitate her.

Blake threw a punch, but the dark form seemed to be made of liquid, flowing out of the way.

Blake could barely see the figure, as they blended in almost perfectly with their surroundings.

An elbow connected with Blake's ribs and she grunted, trying to get her legs up toward the nearly invisible attacker, as her hands were now pinned to the rough ground.

Several footsteps echoed down the alleyway, the familiar clacking of heels and boots against pavement filling Blake's ears.

The faunus panicked. Did her assailant have backup?!

A moment later, a whirlwind of rose petals slammed into her attacker, sending the mysterious figure flying.

Ruby's face appeared in front of Blake's own, eyes filled with concern.

She held out a hand and Blake took it, pulling herself to her feet.

"You alright?" Ruby asked, turning to face the attacker.

"Yeah," Blake said, eyes falling on Yang and Weiss, who were both stalking toward the darkened form.

"What are you guys doing here?" Blake asked.

Ruby looked a bit embarrassed.

"We were worried about you going alone. You said that the White Fang might be after you, so we decided to follow. Sorry," Ruby said.

Blake shook her head, laughing quietly.

"You just potentially saved my life, and you're apologizing?"

Ruby grinned, perking up dramatically.

"Oh no you don't!" Yang groveled, throwing a punch at the mysterious assailant.

Blake couldn't see her eyes, but she was certain they were a bright crimson color.

The attacker was thrown back by the punch, slamming against a wall.

Weiss summoned a glyph that Blake instantly recognized. It stopped movement of anything above it, which Weiss typically used during crashes.

As the assailant shakily tried to stand, that fell back over, sprawling out on the ground.

Yang took a step forward, fists clenched.

Blake rushes forward and put a steadying hand on her shoulder.

Yang stopped instantly, looking back at Blake.

On the ground, the darkened figure collapsed again, shifting colors before her eyes.

After a moment, Blake was met a painfully familiar face.

"Ilia?"

The other faunus averted her eyes from Blake, staring at the ground.

"Long time no see, Blake."

"You know this rapscallion?" Weiss asked, glaring at Ilia.

"She's... an old friend," Blake said slowly.

"A friend that just tried to attack you," Yang said, crossing her arms under her chest.

Ruby moved closer to Blake, putting a hand on her arm protectively.

"What are we going to do with her?" Ruby asked.

-

Blake didn't know how they'd done it, but Yang has somehow managed to lug an entire human being up to their dorm room without anyone noticing.

Mostly it had been due to distractions from Ruby. She was really good at knocking people over with her semblance before they had the chance to see the squirming body Yang was holding in her arms.

Now the four sat, awkwardly, looking at Ilia, who Ruby had tied up in the center of the room. Weiss hadn't trusted the team leader's knots, so she'd retied them better.

"So... I'm Yang, this is Ruby, and that's Weiss. We're Blake's team."

Blake glanced at Yang and rolled her eye.

That was certainly not a good way to start a conversation with someone you'd kidnapped.

"Ilia, you're still with the White Fang?" Blake asked, frowning.

"What does it matter to you? You left," she spat.

"What does it matter to her?! You almost kidnapped her! Or worse!" Weiss snapped.

Ilia sneered.

"I'm not listening to a Schnee lecture me."

Weiss flinched, but continued to glare vehemently.

Blake was about to speak, but the sound of her scroll ringing stopped her.

She pulled it out of her pocket and glanced at her teammates, who motioned for her to take it.

"Hey, mom," she said.

"Blake, where are you? You said you'd be here half an hour ago," Kali said worriedly.

"I was...," she glanced at Ilia, "unavoidably detained."

"What happened," her father asked.

"I ran into an old friend."

"More like she ran into you," Yang muttered, snickering.

Weiss slapped her arm, shushing her.

"Oh. Well, we can reschedule, I suppose," her mother said. The hurt was clear in her voice.

Blake grimaced

"It wasn't exactly an... amicable meeting."

"She tried to kill her!" Yang called, voice traveling through the phone.

Blake glared at her.

"She tried to what?! Are you okay?!" Kali cried.

"I'm fine, Mom. It was a member of the White Fang. My team was there to help."

"Who was it?"

"It... doesn't matter. I promise I'll see you guys tomorrow, sorry!"

Blake grimaced and hung up, knowing her mother would likely call her again within the minute. She didn't intend to pick up.

There was a knock on the door. Before any of them had the chance to react, Nora stuck her head through the door.

"Hey, you guys wanna have a rematch...," she trailed off as her eyes landed on Ilia.

"What's going on?"

Before Blake could stop Nora, she had the entirety of her team in the room, staring at Ilia.

"You almost got kidnapped and you didn't invite us?!" Nora cried.

Pyrrha shushed her.

"Keep your voice down!" she turned to Blake, "You said she's an old friend of yours?"

She nodded.

"Well, maybe there's a chance you can get through to her, then," Pyrrha whispered, watching Ilia from the corner of her eyes.

That didn't work out so well.

Ilia refused look at Blake, no matter how long she spoke to her.

Next, Nora demanded a try.

"Why did you try to kill my friend?!" Ren had drug her away after that.

Yang and Ruby had attempted, but Ilia had also ignored them.

Weiss had avidly declined, as Ilia had practically hissed at her every time she came within two feet of her.

Jaune was too scared, but he'd said that he'd rather not make the White Fang member fall in love with him.

Ren had sat silently beside Ilia for a few moments, which only accomplished making everyone else in the room awkward and uncomfortable.

That left the final member of their eight person impromptu interrogation squad. Pyrrha.

She sat down, rather awkwardly, beside Ilia.

"Hello, my name's Pyrrha."

Ilia glanced at her.

Her eyes widened.

"Aren't you the girl from the cereal boxes?"

"Oh, you recognize me? Yes, I'm on some cereal boxes."

"That's because you're a champion fighter, right?" Ilia continued, shocking everyone in the room.

She hadn't spoken since insulting Weiss earlier.

"Yes, it is. You seem to know a lot about me, but I don't know much about you. Maybe you could inform me?" Pyrrha smiled her brightest smile.

Ilia's scales turned a light pink.

"You know everything you need to know," she said defensively.

"All I know about you is that you're a member of the White Fang. That's not enough information to know a person. I'm of the belief that you can never know enough about a person, because the more you know them, the more you understand them. And the more you understand them, the closer you can be."

Ilia stared at her for a long moment. So long, in fact, that several of the people in the room wondered if she was done speaking.

"Do you really mean that?"

"Of course!"

"Then what do you want to know about me? White Fang secrets? Our plan? Why I joined?" she asked harshly.

Pyrrha frowned.

"I wouldn't be adverse to knowing some of those things, but I was thinking more along the lines of your interests. Perhaps your childhood."

Ilia's scales, once again, turned pink.

"Like what?"

"Do you like to read?"

"Sometimes," Ilia said quietly, now looking at the ground instead of Pyrrha.

"What's your favorite genre?"

"Fantasy."

"Really? I've always been partial to romance."

"Any pets?" Pyrrha asked.

Ilia bristled.

"Why? Because I'm an animal?"

"What? Of course not. Faunus aren't animals, Ilia. Has someone told you this before?" Pyrrha asked gently.

A beat of silence passed.

"Maybe."

"Well, I am truly sorry," Pyrrha said, leaning forward and setting a hand on Ilia's knee gently.

Ilia glanced up, meeting Pyrrha's gaze. When she saw the sincerity in the other girl's eyes, her scales once again changed colors.

"You can change colors? That's fascinating," Pyrrha said.

"T-thanks."

The other people in the room watched with gaping expressions.

"Ilia, that is your name, correct?"

"Yes."

"It's been wonderful talking to you, Ilia, but I think it's time I go to practice with my team. After all, the tournament is coming up. I'll see you tomorrow, however, and we can continue," Pyrrha said.

Ilia nodded wordlessly.

Pyrrha stood and made her way to the rest of her classmates.

"See? It's possible to get her to open up, Blake," she said.

Blake stared at her.

Pyrrha smiled kindly and glanced over her shoulder.

"If you want, I can come back tomorrow to speak with her."

Blake nodded thankfully.

"Goodbye, Ilia!" she called, making her way to the exit.

Blake sat down on the bed. When Ilia saw her, she pointedly looked away.

"Maybe you'd like to talk to me now?" Blake asked.

Ilia shook her head.

"I'll only talk to her," she said.

Blake groaned.

"Ilia, I'm sorry for leaving you behind-"

"I don't want to hear it."

Pyrrha paused at the doorframe.

"Blake, I'd you'd like, I could watch her for tonight," she said.

"Pyrrha," Nora groaned.

Blake glanced at her old friend, whose gaze was now focused on Pyrrha.

She sighed.

"If you wouldn't mind."

"Of course not, Blake. You're my friend, and I would love to help. Also, she is good company."

Blake smiled at her as Pyrrha retreated into the room.

She crouched down beside Ilia.

"I'm going to have to carry you, please don't struggle. I would hate to drop you."

With that, Pyrrha lifted the small faunus into the air and made her way across the hall into her own dorm. Her grip was gentle and Ilia was silent, something she hadn't been when Yang had lugged her to their own dorm.

When the door closed behind Pyrrha, Blake sighed and fell back onto her bed.

Ruby sat down beside her and, after a moment, laid against her side.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"Honestly? I don't know."

Yang and Weiss joined them on the bed, curling up at Blake's side.

That certainly didn't help her other problems, which had definitely not gone away.

She wasn't sure how much longer she could deal with it before she exploded.

-

Ilia sat silently on the carpet of the other team's room.

Pyrrha glanced down at her and frowned.

She moved closer and crouched down.

"Is the floor uncomfortable?"

Ilia didn't respond.

Pyrrha picked her up anyways and set her on the bed.

Ilia groaned internally.

She was a mess.


	25. Best Laid Plans

"Tell us who they are!" General Ironwood screamed, slamming his hand on the table.

Roman Torchwick smirked.

"I'll tell you one thing. You shouldn't let that shiny new toy of yours play on its own."

-

The next morning at breakfast, Pyrrha exited the dorm room early. The rest of the occupants of their dorm room were still asleep as she slipped out, headed toward the cafeteria.

She returned a few minutes later with a plate filled with food.

She opened the door and glanced at her slumbering teammates for a moment.

Pyrrha moved toward the final occupant, crouching down beside Ilia.

She gently shook the faunus awake, causing her to jump awake, clearly worried someone was attacked.

As her eyes landed on Pyrrha, she calmed slightly, eyes flashing to the food.

Pyrrha set down the plate and reached toward Ilia, loosening the extremely tight ropes until they fell off of her.

Ilia slowly pushed herself into a more comfortable sitting position, eyes flashing toward the food.

Pyrrha pushed it toward her and the faunus quickly started to eat it, almost as if she expected it to be taken away before she had a chance to finish. Or perhaps she was just hungry. She hadn't eaten since yesterday, after all.

When she'd finished, Pyrrha piled the plates up together and sat down.

Ilia watched her with slightly narrowed eyes.

"Do you have any family you'd like to call, maybe tell them that you're alright?" she asked.

Ilia shook her head.

"I apologize," Pyrrha said.

Ilia shrugged.

"My parents died when I was young. Mine accident."

Pyrrha set a hand on her knee, something that Ilia was starting to realize was a habit of the other girl's.

"I see. The White Fang must be like a family to you. But a family never expects anything from you. A family protects you and loves you no matter what. I know I said we didn't need to talk about it, and we don't. I just want you to know the difference between people that care for you... and people that use you."

Ilia stared at her.

Pyrrha smiled and leaned back, squeezing her knee before letting go.

-

Blake was losing it.

She was constantly distracted, and her teammates seemed to be catching on.

Every look, every movement, and every word took on so much more meaning for Blake.

It was overwhelming.

-

Ilia continued to sit on the ground, passing time in silence as she watched the clock on the wall tick by.

Classes wouldn't be over until four hours from now, and she had nothing to do.

She rocked back and forth, using her heels to balance herself.

She had nothing to do but think, and thinking was exactly what she didn't want to do.

Images of the White Fang flashed in her mind. Pyrrha's words ran in circles through her head.

Was the White Fang not her family? Were they just using her?

She'd been watching Blake and her team for a few days now, and she'd certainly never seen anyone in the White Fang interact like them.

There was so much support and love between them all.

Dust, she'd even seen them comforting Blake and it was... like nothing she'd ever seen before.

She'd even seen Pyrrha's team together, and they were impressive too.

Her thoughts strayed to Pyrrha, again.

She wondered if her and that boy (John?) were together.

The idea made her a bit sick and she suddenly groaned aloud.

Not again.

Honestly, what was with her and choosing girls that could never like her back? Girls that were clearly into a man she knew. Girls that were so far out of her league it wasn't even funny. Girls that had moral compasses so different from her own.

And this time, apparently, girls that were not even a faunus.

She wanted to scream, but she kept her mouth shut, knowing it would be exceedingly stupid to draw attention to herself.

There was a knock on the door before it opened. Red hair poked through, followed by the rest of Pyrrha.

"I brought some lunch. You'll have to eat fast, though. My next class is in ten minutes."

Ilia watched her carefully.

She wondered idly if this was some sort of deception.

Nobody could be this kind, could they?

But Ilia quickly remembered her time spying on Blake. She'd seen Pyrrha once or twice, and she'd acted exactly the way she did now.

The idea made Ilia's head spin, but not nearly as much as that heart stopping grin of hers.

Ilia was in trouble, and she was sure of it.

-

Roman Torchwick looked at the food in front of him.

"You know, just like this meal, metal and magnets don't exactly go together."

-

The door opened to Penny's training room, and she immediately finished her training fight, throwing her opponent against the ground.

They groaned and slowly pushed themselves to their feet, beginning to limp away.

Penny turned to face the doorway, grinning as soon as she saw who it was.

"Friend Winter, it is wonderful to see you!" she said, making her way toward the agent.

Winter gave her a thin smile, staring down at her.

"And I you, however I do wish it could have been under better circumstances."

Penny cocked her head to the side in confusion.

"Better circumstances? What are the current circumstances?" she asked.

Behind Winter, the door opened to allow General Ironwood to enter.

Penny glanced at Winter, who stood with her hands folded behind her back. Penny had come to realize that Winter did that quite often, though typically when there was someone else around.

When Winter was alone with Penny, her body language was far different. It seemed more relaxed, yet also... more flowing. Penny was unsure why. Perhaps that was how Winter acted with friends. The idea almost made Penny grin in excitement.

"There have been some alterations to the tournament that we must discuss," he said formally.

"What kind of changes?" she asked.

"Due to some information shared by Roman Torchwick, we will be unable to allow you to fight on your own, under any circumstances."

"What? Why?" Penny asked, frowning in both disappointment and confusion.

She had been genuinely excited to showcase her prowess in battle to the rest of the world.

"Your life would be in grave danger if not," Winter said, her eyes boring into Penny's own.

General Ironwood seemed a bit disgruntled at Winter's use of the word "life," which made Penny's heart sink.

Her mind flickered to what Friend Ruby had told her.

She was a person, and she did have a life. And nobody would take that away from her.


	26. Decisions

"Just tell them, Weiss!" Nora groaned, flopping over backwards in her chair.

Weiss turned pink and shoved the other girl with her foot, sending the other girl toppling out of her chair in a heap of limbs.

A few other students looked their way, but quickly went back to ignoring them. Most of the student body was used the the odd shenanigans of team RWBY and JNPR and had stopped being surprised at their antics only a week into the first semester.

"I think Nora has a point. You should tell them, Weiss. Even if they don't reciprocate your emotions, at least you'd have it off of your chest. And I'm sure that none of your teammates would treat you differently," Pyrrha said kindly.

Weiss scoffed at the "if" they didn't reciprocate.

The heiress her up her fingers and began to count on them.

"Ruby would try to console me, but immediately become awkward because she doesn't want to lead me on. This would end in an uncomfortable head pat before running away. Blake would likely stop speaking to me unless completely necessary, though she would claim not to. Yang wouldn't stop making jokes and ridiculous poses."

Nora, who had finally picked herself up off of the ground and plopped back down in her chair, said, "She's got a point."

Pyrrha sighed and glanced upwards, her eyes subconsciously landing in the direction of her dorm room, where Ilia undoubtedly was sitting awkwardly with Jaune and Ren.

"And besides, you two are ones to talk," Weiss said defensively.

The other two girls looked at her.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Pyrrha asked.

Weiss scoffed, throwing a hand up in the air.

"Both of you are head over heels for your partners," she said, careful to keep her voice down.

Nora flushed red and her hand twitched toward her hammer, which was seated beside her chair.

Pyrrha frowned.

"I don't have any feelings for Jaune."

Both Weiss and Nora stared at her, incredulous.

She looked down at her hands, which had begun to fidget.

"Well, yes, I did have some romantic inclinations for him when last semester started, but they have since disappeared."

Weiss and Nora exchanged a glance.

"Is she serious?" Weiss whispered.

"She has been flirting with him a whole lot less for the past month or so...," Nora responded contemplatively.

"My point is, that you should tell them, because this kind of secret can eat away at a person," Pyrrha said.

She shot a look at the clock and stood, sending her friends an apologetic look.

"I apologize, but I must get going," she said, picking up her things and hurrying from the library.

Nora sighed and began to follow Pyrrha's example.

"It's been so hard to get her out of the room since last night. Those two are always yap, yap, yapping," Nora complained.

Weiss watched the pair grow, her mind filled with thoughts of her teammates and the countless horrors that came with her confessing her emotions.

-

"Can we please tell them?" Ruby whined in team RWBY's dorm room.

Yang groaned, throwing her forearm over her eyes.

"No."

"Can we now?"

"No."

"How about now?"

"No!"

A beat of silence.

"Now?"

"NO!"

Ruby crossed her arms over her chest, pouting.

"But what if-"

"Ruby, if you make me say it one more time, I'm going to scream."

Two minutes later, a loud scream rang down the hallway and into the surrounding area, scaring several birds from their roosts.

-

Ilia sat silently on the floor.

"I swear she talks to me when we're alone."

The rest of Pyrrha's team glanced between her and the girl tied up on the floor.

"Fine!" Nora said, throwing her hands up into the air irritably.

As the three other members of team JNPR trailed out of the room, Ilia could hear the short one, Nora, mumbling to herself.

"I was really excited to try out my new interrogation techniques!"

"You wanted to hit her in the legs with your hammer!" Jaune cried.

"And now I don't have the chance!" Nora snapped as the door swung closed behind them.

Ilia watched with wide, fearful eyes.

"Nora's not really going to break your legs," Pyrrha said, taking a seat beside Ilia and starting to take off her ropes.

Ilia sat completely still, considering her current predicament.

When Pyrrha was done, she could make a run for it.

The annoying one, Jaune, had stupidly left the window open.

She could throw herself through that and then disappear into the crowds of people.

Pyrrha was on the final knot...

"I know that you might not feel comfortable here with my team and me, and I'm sorry. I wish we didn't have to keep you tied up. I've been trying to convince my friends that you're not dangerous."

Ilia tried to ignore her.

As the final bit of rope fell off of Ilia, she tensed, her sore muscles preparing to race across the room and throw her out of the window.

Pyrrha put a hand on her knee again, moving so that her and Ilia could make eye contact.

"You're not the person they've sculpted you into. You're not the person they fear you are. And you're not the person you think you have to be. You're Ilia Amitola, and you're a wonderful person I want to know better."

Ilia felt her entire body relax under the other girl's touch, her heart filling to the brim.

She'd never heard anything remotely like that since... ever.

As Ilia looked into those emerald eyes, she felt herself falling even farther.

Pyrrha put her arms around Ilia and pulled her in for a hug.

Ilia hadn't had on in a while, and she stiffened at the contact at first.

After a moment, she melted in the taller girl's arms, burying her head in Pyrrha's neck.

Despite herself, she felt tears forming.

"Do... do you really mean that. Nobody's... telling you to say this?"

Pyrrha tightened her grip around Ilia, pulling the smaller girl into her grasp fully.

"No. Nobody has to be told to care for you, Ilia."

The faunus cried in her arms for a while before pulling herself together and sitting up slightly.

In her mind, she had made a decision.

She would stay here, with people who could care for each other with no ulterior motive. With people who could accept her for who she was.

With Pyrrha.

"I'm ready to tell you."

Pyrrha frowned.

"Tell me what?"

"Everything."

-

Blake slammed her hands down on the library table.

She couldn't focus.

The tournament was supposed to be held tomorrow, she had Ilia to handle, the White Fang was on her metaphorical tail, and she had homework.

But she could only think of her teammates.

This had to end, and it had to end now.

-

Pyrrha had listened silently to Ilia's entire story, seated cross legged in front of her.

"You had... romantic feelings for Blake?"

Ilia's scales reddened.

"I did."

"And this fueled your anger and sense of betrayal?"

"Yes."

"Do you still have feelings for her."

Ilia almost said her affections were located somewhere very different, but stopped herself.

"No."

"You should tell her how you felt, so that the two of you can move on with your friendship."

Ilia crossed her arms defensively.

"Assuming you do want to move on. Perhaps you still intend to rejoin the White Fang."

Pyrrha said it as if it was nothing. As if she would support Ilia either way.

The idea made her heart race.

"I should tell her," she muttered.

"So you don't intend to leave for the White Fang?"

"No."

Pyrrha grinned that blindingly brilliant smile of hers. The one that made Ilia dizzy and distracted.

She leaned forward and gave Ilia another of her impossibly warm hugs.

"I'm glad. I would have been very sad to see you go, Ilia."

I won't go anywhere for as long as you'll have me, she thought.


	27. Confessions

Blake was starting to regret her decision, but she knew that she had to push through her hesitance.

When she finally told them, it would be off of her chest. They could reject her, and she could finally not be as distracted. At least that was what she hoped.

Well, as much as she could hope to be rejected by the three girls she was in l-

She had crushes on.

That was still the most surprising part to her. Blake had feelings for three people equally.

Blake finally found herself outside of their dorm room, her feet practically glued to the ground.

This was it.

She didn't know if she could open the door.

Blake took a deep breath in and slowly let it out.

She had to do this.

Her hand shakily reached forward toward the doorknob, but it was suddenly slammed open, revealing Ruby, who was excitedly smiling up at her.

"Blake!" she cried, sounding shocked.

Blake had almost jumped out of her skin in her surprise, her hand flying to her chest as her eyes widened.

Ruby didn't seem to notice as she reached her hand out to grab Blake's own, tugging her into the dorm room.

"We were just about to go looking for you," she said.

Yang took one look at Blake and frowned.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

Blake took a deep, steadying breath.

"I... have to tell you all something. I can’t hide it any longer."

Her teammates looked scared, glancing at one another and then at her.

"But I need you to promise we can still be friends after," she said.

"Blake, it can't be that bad. I mean, we've stuck with you through thick and thin," Yang said consolingly.

Blake didn't speak.

"Fine, I promise."

Two other voices echoed Yang. She didn't notice their small expressions of regret.

Blake suddenly realized she'd underestimated how difficult this was going to be.

Her first instinct was to run away and never come back so that she didn't have to confront this. Ever.

But she knew she had to.

"I have a feelings for you. All of you," Blake specified a moment later.

She cringed at their expressions.

Weiss was completely in shock, her eyes staring at Blake unblinkingly and unseeingly. She didn't seem to comprehend what Blake was saying.

Yang's jaw had dropped and she was looking at her partner as if she had grown a second head, then proceeded to grow a third and fourth one for good measure.

Ruby mirrored Yang's expression for a moment before her face morphed into a giant smile.

Before Blake could react to the team leader's dramatic shift in emotions, the small girl had disappeared into a blur of rose petals.

Less than a second later, arms wrapped themselves around Blake's neck and legs locked around her waist.

Ruby's face was now level with Blake's own, her silver eyes boring into her own with excitement.

Before Blake had the opportunity to even stumble back in both shock and the addition of so much unexpected weight, Ruby's lips had locked with her own.

Blake almost fell, but steadied herself at the last second against Weiss' bed.

Once she was stable, she seemed to suddenly realize what was going on.

She was kissing Ruby.

The thought shocked her into movement and she wrapped her arms around Ruby, holding the other girl more steadily so that she couldn't fall from her arms unexpectedly.

Kissing Ruby was... indescribable. She tasted like cookies and sugar, things which Blake had never enjoyed. Suddenly, she had an insatiable appetite for them. Ruby had moved one hand from around Blake's shoulders into her hair, idly running a hand through it until it reached her ear.

A purr erupted from her throat, unable to hold it back anymore. Ruby smiled into the kiss, clearly enjoying the slight rumbling sensation it made against her lips.

Before the two could deepen the kiss further, there was a hand on Ruby's shoulder, pulling the other girl back.

Ruby let out a whine while Blake's eyes fluttered back open. She wasn't sure when they'd closed.

"Yaaaang," Ruby said, pulling back toward Blake against her sister's grip.

"This isn't just about you two," Yang said, smirking slightly.

Blake suddenly remembered the rest of the past five minutes.

Her grip tightened on Ruby slightly, wishing she could bury her head in the other girl's neck and never have to participate in the rest of this conversation.

Yang let go of Ruby's shoulder and shifted flirtatiously, eyes locked on Blake's own.

"You said all three of us?" she asked.

Blake nodded dumbly.

Yang's eyes quickly flickered up and down all of Blake's form.

"I suppose that could be acceptable."

Ruby rolled her eyes sufferingly, turning to Blake.

"Both of us like you too! Like really like you!" she said enthusiastically.

She'd been waiting for this moment for weeks, and it was better than she could have ever imagined it.

Yang glared at her sister.

"I was getting there, Rubes!"

Blake opened her mouth to speak, though she wasn't sure what she'd say, and Yang took the opportunity to interrupt her.

She pushed past Ruby, causing the younger girl to a squawk in protest, and latched her lips onto Blake's own.

Kissing Yang was like kissing Ruby in only one regard: Blake felt her chest fill to the brim with joy and excitement, so much so that she thought she might explode.

Other than that, kissing Yang was nothing like Ruby.

Blake was still clutching Ruby, but Yang brushed past her sister like she was nothing, looping her arms around Blake, her hands playing with the edges of her teammate’s shirt.

Another purr filled the room, creating a buzzing sensation against Yang's lips. She'd been dreaming of this for weeks, but she hadn't ever considered that variable, which seemed like an oversight on her part. Especially considering the fact that she had every other second of their first kiss planned out.

The plan had gone out the window almost immediately, obviously, but that didn't matter. This was far more enjoyable than her imagination had made it out to be.

The only thing that could ruin it was-

"Yaaang!" Ruby whined.

The older sister reached a hand up and shoved her sister away in annoyance.

This didn't help, as Yang had forgotten to factor in that the girl she was kissing was currently holding Ruby.

This caused the cat faunus to stumble as Ruby almost fell from her arms.

Blake's lips, regrettably, detached from Yang's own as she stabilized herself and Ruby.

Yang glared at her sister.

Ruby stuck out her tongue at her.

Despite the interruption, everything felt perfect to each of the three girls.

Well... almost perfect.

Almost instantaneously, the three girls realized that they were missing one of their teammates.

They all turned to face Weiss, who was still sitting on Blake's bed, her eyes wide with disbelief.

Under their gazes, Weiss suddenly seemed to awaken from her deep trance.

As she looked back at them, her three teammates awkwardly shifted.

"Weiss, if you don't feel comfortable-" Ruby started.

Weiss interrupted her.

"All... three of us?" she asked, staring at Blake.

She nodded, gulping.

Blake was already too lucky. She'd kissed two perfect girls (who were, by the way, way out of her league) who confessed that they too had feelings for her too.

She couldn't be fortunate enough to have somehow also gained some sort of favor with the Ice Queen too.

"And...," Weiss looked at the two sisters before starting to stare at the ground, "you two feel the same way about her..."

Weiss took a deep breath and forced herself to look back at Ruby and Yang.

"Do you two also-"

Yang was suddenly grinning.

"Have feelings for you? Why don't you get over here and find out?" she said flirtatiously.

Ruby was nodding enthusiastically.

"Yes! Yes, we do!" she cried.

Weiss suddenly burst into one of her rare grins.

She hurried over to them, though she would never, under any circumstances, reveal how excited she was.

Ruby wiggled in Blake's arms and the faunus gently let her down.

She moved toward the heiress, but Yang pushed her off.

"No way, my turn!"

"But you just got to kiss Blake," Ruby whined.

"You got her first," Yang said, leaning down toward Weiss.

Ruby shoved her and the two started to bicker playfully.

Weiss sidestepped around them, rolling her eyes with no small amount of fondness in her gaze.

She stopped in front of Blake as the two sisters continued to argue.

Blake smiled stupidly down at her, and Weiss was clearly struggling not to do the same.

"I'm not leaning up," Weiss said after a moment, crossing her arms.

Blake grinned wider and leaned down, wrapping her arms around Weiss' waist and lifting her into the air.

Weiss squeaked in shock, but was silenced as Blake pressed her lips against hers.

Kissing Weiss had the same effect on Blake as the kisses from the two sisters had. Her head spun as Weiss uncrossed her arms, putting her hands gently on Blake's face. Her hands were cradling Blake almost reverently, as if half expecting for all of this to be a dream. Or maybe that Blake would suddenly pull away. Blake decided to fix that worry, deepening the kiss slightly.

Her lips were cold against Blake's own, but she didn't mind. She tasted of mint, which the faunus shouldn't have been surprised by.

Weiss was in shock. She was sure she had died and gone to heaven.

She was pushed against Blake and could feel the purr from the moment it built up in her chest until it buzzed against her lips, creating a surprisingly pleasant sensation. Blake had her arms around her waist still, and Weiss slightly regretted her refusal to lean up, if only because of that.

The two pulled apart after a minute, both breathing heavily.

They stared at each other lovingly until a laugh erupted behind Weiss.

The pair turned to face Yang, who was now snickering uncontrollably.

"I'm sorry! I swear I didn't mean to ruin the moment! It's just... I just watched the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company kiss a former member of the White Fang! That's not something you see every day!" she said, continuing to laugh.

"If you don't stop laughing, you won't get a turn," Weiss warned, crossing her arms as Blake set her down.

Yang grinned, but there was a slight light of worry in her eyes that made Weiss' heart melt more than it already had.

Ruby moved toward Weiss, but Yang swooped in first, snatching the heiress up and throwing them onto the closest bed, laughing at the disgruntled sound of shock that came from the heiress.

Yang silenced her with a kiss, letting her hands slip into Weiss hair.

Weiss was distracted by Yang's lips, unaware that the blond's hands were undoing her painstakingly well done hair.

The hair tie fell onto the bed and Weiss didn't notice, her hands falling on Yang's shoulders to steady herself.

Ruby pouted across the room, and Blake grinned, turning to the team leader.

"That's the great thing about having three teammates," she said lowly.

Ruby turned to her and her eyes widened in understanding.

Blake was alright with... distracting the other girl until she had a chance at her first kiss with Weiss.

When Yang and Weiss pulled apart, they were both breathing heavily.

Weiss suddenly realized that Yang had undone her hair, but she didn't have the strength to be angry. She was far too happy.

Yang grinned at her, and any complaint she could have even imagined died in her throat.

The two sat up and looked ahead, finding Blake and Ruby pulling away from one another as well.

Ruby looked up and her eyes landed on Weiss.

She grinned and gave Blake a final peck on the lips, having to stretch onto her tip toes to do so, before racing to Weiss through the use of her semblance.

Ruby reappeared in a burst of red rose petals, settling on Weiss' lap and tackling her back onto the bed before Weiss had the chance to catch her breath.

Ruby continued where her sister had left off, running a hand through Weiss' hair and messing it up even further.

Weiss put her hands on Ruby's face and gently held it, rubbing her thumbs in small circles.

The two pulled apart, Weiss even more out of breath than before, and saw Yang and Blake doing the same, the pair settled on the floor beside them.

"Well... I suppose this means we have a lot to discuss," Weiss said, once she had caught her breath.

Indeed they did.


	28. Discussions

The four girls were settled on Weiss' bed, and there had been a heavy silence in the air for several minutes now.

Finally, Weiss broke it.

"Ruby, Yang, are you two... comfortable with this? I mean... you two are sisters," she said.

Ruby and Yang nodded immediately.

"We discussed this a few weeks ago."

Weiss nodded, and Blake gaped.

"Weeks ago?!" she asked.

The other three girls looked at her.

"Yeah, why?" Yang said.

"You two have known about your feelings for us for... weeks?" Blake asked, incredulous.

"Yeah," Ruby said.

"How long you known?" Weiss asked.

"Since yesterday."

The other three girls stared at her.

"Yesterday?! And you couldn't hold it in anymore?!" Weiss cried.

Blake's eyes widened.

The heiress threw her hands up in the air.

"I wait for weeks for any sense of hope and she comes waltzing in here after a day!"

"I'm not complaining!" Ruby said, setting her head on Blake's shoulder.

"For any sign of hope?! Weiss, Ruby and I have been flirting with you two for weeks!" Yang said.

"You've been flirting?" Blake asked, eyes wide.

Yang stared at her.

Blake blushed slightly.

Looking back, their interactions had not been within the definition of "platonic."

Weiss seemed like she wanted to be upset, her arms crossed against her chest, but couldn't, as she was fighting off a grin.

"So... how does this work?" Blake finally asked.

They all looked at her and she tried not to be embarrassed under the scrutiny of her teammates.

"I mean... my feelings for you are more than just... attraction. Are you three looking for something serious or...," she trailed off.

Yang burst out laughing and Blake shrunk in on herself.

"You think we're just looking for, what? A good time? Blake...," she trailed off and glanced at her sister, who nodded eagerly.

Yang sighed before speaking, her arms crossed against her chest as she looked away.

"Ruby and I are in love with you two," she said.

Her sister agreed enthusiastically.

"So we are looking for something serious!" Ruby said.

The words rang through Blake's head, setting off alarms that Adam had installed long ago. She shouldn't let anyone this close, shouldn't let anyone know how she felt.

But, after a moment, she silenced them.

"I love you, too," Blake whispered, but from the reactions on their faces, she was sure the three girls had all heard her.

Weiss took a steadying breath.

"Me too," she said.

Yang grinned.

"Not good enough, Ice Queen."

She huffed, crossing her arms.

"Fine. I love you idiots."

"There it is!" Yang said, looping an arm around Weiss' shoulders and squeezing them.

"So... we're dating?" Ruby asked awkwardly.

There was a chorus of different acceptances, which made Ruby squeal in excitement.

Yang suddenly grinned.

"You're telling me that over the course of the past few weeks, you didn't realize that any of us had feelings for you, Blake?" she asked.

Blake blushed.

"Well... you weren't very obvious."

"Not very obvious?! Ruby and I did everything but kiss you, and Weiss wouldn't stop blushing whenever she was within five feet of you!"

Ruby laughed and Weiss swatted Yang's arm.

"Hey! Don't hit your girlfriend! That's abuse!"

Weiss turned red and she slapped her again.

"You're insufferable," Weiss muttered.

"I know!"

Weiss was about to speak, but a knock at the door quickly silenced whatever she was going to say.

Ruby panicked and fell off of Blake's bed, almost pulling the faunus down with her.

"Hello?" Pyrrha asked from outside.

Weiss took a deep, steadying breath before making her way to the door and opening it.

Pyrrha stood at the doorway, smiling kindly at the four of them.

Ilia peeked at them from behind her back.

Blake's eyes widened and she stood quickly, wondering if the other faunus would attack her.

Ilia smiled thinly, glancing up at Pyrrha.

The redhead gave her an encouraging look, which seemed to work, as Ilia stood straighter and met Blake's worried gaze.

"Ilia... what... what are you doing here?" Blake asked.

"What's she doing untied?" Yang asked Pyrrha, voice low as she clicked her gauntlets into place.

"I've come to... apologize," Ilia said slowly.

Blake relaxed slightly, looking down at her old friend.

"I've decided that I want to.. leave the White Fang, and stay here to help you fight," she said.

Blake's eyes widened.

"You.. you do?" she asked, her gaze shooting to Pyrrha in shock.

Pyrrha smiled and set a hand on Ilia's shoulder comfortingly.

The chameleon faunus seemed to draw strength from her, eyes set in determination.

"Blake, the reason I was so upset with you was... I used to have feelings for you. And when you left, I felt... betrayed," she said quickly.

The four members of team RWBY stared at her in shock.

"Ilia, I-"

Before Blake had the chance to continue, Yang lost control, starting to laugh loudly.

Ilia curled in on herself self consciously, glancing back at Pyrrha, who sent a glare at Yang.

It was such a rare occurrence that Yang panicked, glancing back at her teammates.

"I'm not laughing at you, Ilia, I swear! I'm laughing at Blake."

Blake's ears twitched irritably.

"Yang, shut up," she hissed.

"How many people have had feelings for you without you noticing?! I thought you were supposed to be observant!" Yang continued, grinning.

Ilia awkwardly shifted and Pyrrha's glare intensified, shutting Yang up immediately.

"Ilia, I'm sorry that I left you behind. I shouldn't have left anyone with... him. And I'm sorry that I couldn't reciprocate your feelings. You deserve to find happiness," Blake said.

Pyrrha smiled and Ilia glanced at her, her scales turning a light pink color.

Blake moves forward and gave Ilia a light hug, which she reciprocated after a moment of surprise. She was glad that the other girl's touch no longer sent her heart racing.

When they pulled back, Pyrrha frowned in confusion, glancing at Weiss.

"Did you...," she trailed off and Weiss blushed, looking away.

Yang quickly worked out the question.

"Weiss, did you tell Pyrrha?!" she asked, grinning.

"Maybe," she said quietly.

"What are we talking about?" Ruby asked.

"Nothing!" Weiss said far too quickly.

Ilia glanced between Blake and Pyrrha.

The redhead set her hand on Ilia's shoulder.

"I think we'll leave those three to talk. I think we may have interrupted something."

Weiss mouthed her thanks as Pyrrha led Ilia out of the room.

-

"That went better than I expected," Ilia said, sighing slightly.

Pyrrha smiled and held the door open for Ilia.

The pair entered the dorm room, finding themselves alone.

The two sat down on Pyrrha's bed.

"Do you still have feelings for Blake?" she asked cautiously.

Ilia's heart raced.

"No, why?"

Pyrrha considered her motivation for asking for a moment before speaking.

"I think she might be with someone else," she said.

Ilia was disappointed, but not at Blake's newest romantic entanglement.

"Good for her."

Pyrrha smiled at the smaller girl.

"What about you?" Ilia asked, struggling to keep herself from fidgeting.

"What about me?"

"Are you in a relationship, too?"

"No, I'm not. I thought I had feelings for someone... but it didn't work out."

"Do you still?"

"No."

Ilia silently cheered, though she knew it didn't give her any more of a shot with the redhead.

"The tournament starts tomorrow. Can I count on you being there to cheer me on?" Pyrrha asked.

Ilia almost laughed.

"Of course."

Pyrrha smiled and set her hand on top of Ilia's.

The chameleon faunus felt like she was going to faint.

-

Blake tried to ignore Yang's teasing.

"You're a real ladykiller, aren't you, Blake?" she asked.

The faunus sighed.

Blake was suddenly reminded something, and she pulled her scroll out of her pocket.

She went through her contacts quickly, clicking on a familiar contact.

She couldn't remember the last time she'd sent a message to Velvet, but this seemed important.

Tell her. Anyone can make it work. Even faunus and people. Faunus and heiresses.

The other student sent a message back in under a minute.

You mean that you and Weiss...

Yes.

Blake didn't get a response, and she smiled, turning to face her teammates and girlfriends. She marveled at the last word.

She was dating all three of them, and she couldn't be luckier.

Even if Yang was still making fun of her for her obliviousness.

But it was all too worth it when Yang gave her that playful grin of hers.

Blake was far too lucky.


	29. Chocolate Flavored Kisses

Velvet stared down at her scroll, her heart racing.

"What're you looking at, Velv?" Coco asked lazily from her bed, where she was lounging in a way that seemed both haphazard and and purposeful at the same time.

Coco had one leg thrown over the other as she laid on her stomach, one arm supporting her chin as she watched Velvet from under her sunglasses.

She pushed the glasses down as Velvet hesitated.

They were the only two in their dorm room at the moment, and it gave Velvet a sense of confidence.

Blake and Weiss we're together now, weren't that? What's what the other faunus had implied

If Weiss could date Blake... the what could be the harm in Velvet confessing her feelings to Coco?

If Weiss of all people could accept a faunus, then...

"Coco, I need to tell you something."

At the tone in Velvet's voice, the other girl sat up, frowning just slightly.

Velvet could no longer see Coco's eyes behind her glasses, which slightly unnerved her.

She was always more comfortable when she could see the other girl's eyes. It helped her know when she'd messed up.

"What?" Coco prompted her.

"I...," Velvet took a deep breath and felt her ears curl up against the base of her skull, "I've liked you since our first year," she said quickly.

She shut her eyes tightly.

Coco stared at her in shock, though Velvet couldn't see her.

Did... did she just say what I thought she said? she thought.

Coco picked herself up off of her bed, grinning.

She crouched down in front of Velvet, who sat down on her bed with her eyes and ears still shut.

Coco set one hand on Velvet's knee, and the other girl jumped, eyes shooting open.

Coco reached her other hand up and took her sunglasses off, staring straight into her teammate's eyes.

"I have too," she whispered.

With that, she closed the distance between Velvet and herself.

Velvet squeaked and would have fallen off the bed if Coco hadn't steadied her by setting her hands on the faunus' hips gently.

Velvet let out a shocked sound and Coco almost laughed, pulling the other girl closer.

As Coco considered pushing Velvet closer to the wall, the door opened and two forms walked in.

"Finally!"

The two broke apart as their teammates stared at them, grinning.

Velvet blushed deeply and Coco smiled.

"That's what I was thinking," she said, placing her hand on Velvet's knee.

Fox winked at them and pulled the other boy out of the room.

"You've got fifteen minutes," he said.

Velvet stared at Coco lovingly.

"We need to thank Weiss and Blake."

Coco shrugged, unsure what it had to do with their current situation, and closed the distance between them once again.

She was intent to make the most of the fifteen minutes their friends had given them, and Velvet certainly didn't object.


	30. Revealed

Blake heard knocking on the door, again, and tried not to groan.

Weiss glared at it, bristling.

She was currently sitting on the bed, Blake's head situated in her lap.

Ruby zipped to the door with her semblance, opening it to find two familiar forms standing in the doorway.

Blake scrambled out of Weiss' lap, the heiress quickly withdrawing her hand from the faunus' ears.

Blake's parents stood in the doorway.

Ghira smiled at Ruby and greeted the excitable girl, who was now more than a bit nervous.

Kali, however, had her gaze focused on Blake.

Her daughter couldn't tell from her expression if she'd seen her and Weiss a moment earlier.

"Hey," Blake said, cursing herself internally.

In her distracted state, she'd forgotten that she had invited her parents over to their dorm today.

Kali grabbed a chair from their table and sat down, smiling at her daughter.

"What happened yesterday?" Ghira asked almost instantly.

Blake hesitated, her eyes flashing to the doorway, toward where she knew Ilia must be.

Blake quickly told the story of the ambush, careful not to say the name of her attacker.

"Who was it?" Kali asked.

"Where are they?" Ghira asked, popping his knuckles.

"She's-"

Weiss slapped a hand over Ruby's mouth.

Ghira turned his attention to the team leader, raising an eyebrow.

"She's where?"

"She's with a friend," Blake said, "and she has already apologized."

"She's not a part of the White Fang anymore," Ruby supplied.

"Was it Ilia?" Kali asked.

Blake's eyes shot to her.

"How'd you know?"

"You've only made so many friends in your life, dear," Kali said, smiling.

Blake flushes while Yang laughed behind her.

She leaned down to whisper into Blake's ear, not seeming to mind that it was her cat ear.

Blake's parents, however, did, and watched carefully to see if their daughter got frustrated.

"And I guess you lost three of those friends today, huh?" Yang whispered, grinning.

Blake scoffed and elbowed her, but there was a smile on her lips.

Blake's parents calmed as Yang pulled back, smiling at them.

Ruby was having a much harder time acting normal, feeling suddenly far less comfortable with the older couple now that she was dating their daughter.

Weiss wasn't much better, and she was attempting to stay as silent as possible.

"I'm sorry I didn't make it yesterday," Blake said, walking over to give her parents each a hug.

"It's alright, we understand," Kali said gently.

Blake took a seat beside her and was about to speak when the door slammed open.

"Coco!" a high pitched voice admonished.

Coco stride into the room, grinning and dragging Velvet in behind her.

She didn't seem to notice either of Blake's parents, even though her gaze was focused on the faunus behind her sunglasses.

Coco's hair was a mess, her jacket was ruffled in a way that the fashionista never allowed normally, and there was a giant grin plastered on her face.

Velvet was in a similar state of disarray, though her embarrassment was far more noticeable than her ruffled hair. Her face was a light shade of pink, and she tugged on Coco's hand with her own, trying to pull her out of the room.

"Just wanted to thank you personally, Blake. What you said finally got Honey Bun to confess," she said

Velvet tried to apologize for her new girlfriend's behavior with her eyes, though almost everyone in the room was watching Coco.

Coco turned to face Velvet, grinning.

"We agreed not to hide it, so I'm going to shout it from the rooftops. I think that Nora girl has a megaphone...," she trailed off, and Velvet shook her head vigorously, making Coco laugh.

"But thanks for the push, we'll be sure to get you two something nice!" Coco said, waving as she turned to walk out.

"I'm so sorry," Velvet hissed as she was tugged out of the room by Coco's hand in her own.

Coco stopped Velvet by the door and kissed her.

Velvet had the sense to close the dorm room door as Coco wrapped her arms around the faunus' waist.

Everyone stared at the closed door before turning to Blake, who seemed just as shocked as the rest of them.

"What just happened?" Yang asked.

"Coco came to thank me for helping her and Velvet get together," Blake said, keeping her eyes steadfastly away from her parents.

"I thought they were already dating," Weiss said.

"So did I!" Ruby cried.

"What did you tell them to help?" Weiss asked.

Blake's eyes widened in panic for a moment.

"I just told her that human and faunus relationships could work," she said.

The heiress snapped her mouth shut and nodded, looking slightly worried.

"That's what she was worried about? Didn't Coco almost almost beat up Cardin last week for her?" Yang asked.

"Yeah," Ruby said.

"Are human and faunus relationships a common occurrence here?" Kali asked, taking advantage of the opportunity.

Weiss, if possible, paled more than her natural skin tone.

"W-well, there's not too many faunus at the school, so...," Blake trailed off, her face a light shade of pink.

Ghira sat stiffly while Kali smiled at the four kindly.

"Blake, dear, would you mind fetching your father and I some food? We skipped lunch."

Blake blinked in confusion, but nodded.

"Uh, yeah. Yeah, I'll be right back."

She opened the dorm door, pleasantly surprised that Coco and Velvet weren't behind it any longer.

Once the door had closed behind Blake, Kali spun in her chair, eyes suddenly turning far less kind.

"Which one of you is it?" she demanded.

"Which of us is what?" Ruby asked, cocking her head to the side in confusion.

Weiss remained silent.

"I know one of you is dating my Blake. Which one of you is it?" she asked. Her voice, which was typically kind and gentle, had turned harsh and cold.

The three remaining members of team RWBY sat, silent, in shock.

"A mother knows these things. Now, tell me before she gets back."

Weiss took a steadying breath before speaking.

"No one is dating Blake," she said carefully, her voice carefully calm.

Ruby took a moment to understand the gravity of Weiss' statement.

Technically, she wasn't lying.

There wasn't one person dating, there were three.

"Don't lie to me."

"She's not!" Ruby jumped in quickly, making Yang glance at her with a small smirk, barely noticeable to the youngest member of their team.

"Mrs. Belladonna, if you want to know about Blake's romantic life, it'd be best to ask her," Yang said.

"Ask her what?" Blake said, closing the door behind her.

"If you're dating someone," Ruby supplied quickly.

Blake froze mid-step, eyes darting between her teammates.

She set the food on the table between her parents.

"That's... a difficult question," she said slowly.

"It can't be too difficult, sweetie. Just tell me who it is."

Blake's gaze shot between her teammates quickly.

"Can I... have just a moment to talk to my teammates?" she asked.

Her mother seemed frustrated, but she nodded.

Blake hurries toward the others, who were ready bunched in a circle together.

"What do I say?" she hissed.

"You could say you're just dating one of us," Yang suggested, but Ruby huffed.

"No way! I'm proud to be with you, Blake. You can tell her about us." Blake was silently grateful that Ruby had successfully whispered this time.

"Me too," Yang said.

Three pairs of eyes fell on Weiss, who shuffled uncomfortably.

She considered for a moment.

I could tell them, but then maybe word would get back to my father... but if I don't tell them, then Ruby, Yang, and Blake might think I'm ashamed or not serious about my feelings for them!

Weiss weighed the two possible options in her head.

Much as she loathed to admit it, only one was viable.

She couldn't lose them or jeopardize their relationship, not when they'd just gotten together!

"Okay."

Ruby went to cheer, but Weiss instantly slapped a hand over her mouth to quiet her.

The four slowly turned back around to face Blake's parents, who were watching them with impatient expressions.

"Which one of them is it, dear?" Kali asked kindly.

"Mom, Dad... I'm dating all of them," Blake said, speaking as fast as she could.

They both stared at her for a moment before looking at their daughter's girlfriends.

Kali slowly smiled, though Blake couldn't determine whether or not it was strained.

"Well, I suppose that's why I couldn't figure out which one of them it was. How long has... this been going on?" she asked.

"Two hours and twenty-seven minutes," Ruby replies instantly.

"That's... not as long as I expected," Kali said slowly.

Ruby was suddenly grinning again.

"I know we've already met, but... it's still great to meet my girlfriend's parents!" she said, shooting forward with her semblance and eagerly shaking Ghira's hand.

Blake's father barely seemed to register Ruby, his eyes still on his daughter, who awkwardly smiled at him.

As Ruby moved onto Kali, Ghira finally got his wits about him, turning to face Weiss.

The heiress felt a chill go down her spine, and she straightened her posture immediately.

"Blake," Ghira started, voice low, "let me get this straight."

Yang barely controlled her snickers. There was nothing straight about this.

"You ran away from home, joined the White Fang, declared your distaste for humans, and when your mother and I finally find you... you're not only dating three humans, but one of them is the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company?"

Blake sheepishly nodded, and Ghira burst out laughing.

Yang joined in a moment later, almost collapsing onto the ground. She would have if not for the steadying hand from Weiss on her shoulder.

Kali seemed to finally take in the entirety of the situation, and she laughed too, pushing herself to her feet and pulling Ruby into a tight hug.

"Welcome to the family!" she said loudly.

She pulled Ruby closer.

"Unless you hurt my Blake, then I'll gut you like a fish."

She moved onto Yang, who accepted the hug with enthusiasm, almost squeezing too tight for Kali to breath.

When she got to Weiss, the heiress awkwardly stuck out her arm for a handshake.

Kali scoffed and hugged Weiss as well.

"I'm sure if Blake picked you, you can't be anything like your father," she whispered.

Weiss smiled widely, looping her arms around the faunus and squeezing lightly before they separated.

Yang and Ghira were sitting at the table, cracking jokes with one another.

"You know, I always thought my sister was like a ruby. Lucky she's pretty, cause she's dense as a rock!"

Ghira burst out laughing, pounding his fist against the table in his mirth.

Ruby started to excitedly talk with Weiss and Kali, who were exchanging pleasantries.

As Blake watched, she felt tears forming in her eyes, which she quickly wiped away.

Her new and old family were here together, becoming one.

As Yang gestured at her to come over and join the rest of them as they coalesced at the small table, Blake found that she'd never been happier.


	31. Night Before

Ilia stood by the doorway of team JNPR's dorm room.

This was her first time in here while she was neither tied up or being watched diligently. And, now that she was out of danger, her social awkwardness was shining through in full force.

“Maybe I should find a hotel to stay at,” Ilia said lowly, her voice intended to only reach Pyrrha, who was standing about a foot away from her.

“There’s no need. You can share with me tonight,” she said, smiling kindly down at the faunus.

If Pyrrha had any idea what that smile did to Ilia, she probably wouldn’t have offered.

“A-are you sure?”

“Of course, Ilia.”

She cursed internally.

This girl was trying to be nice to her, but it felt like torture.

-

“Shouldn’t we be preparing for tomorrow?” Velvet asked.

Coco shushed her, running a hand through her hair.

Velvet’s head was set on Coco’s shoulder, her arms wrapped around the team leader’s middle as she snuggled against her side.

“We’ve been practicing for weeks, Honey Bun, don’t worry.”

“I know, but I’m nervous.”

Coco quieted her with a gentle kiss before pulling her closer.

“Just close your eyes and go to sleep.”

Velvet let out a breath, relaxing against her girlfriend’s side.

Her breathing steadied a minute later, and gentle snores escaped her slightly opened lips.

Coco smiled and finally let her eyes fall shut.

Now that Velvet was asleep, she could be too.

But she’d never leave Velvet to worry by herself.

-

“Who are they!” General Ironwood slammed his hands against the table angrily.

Roman made a tutting sound.

“Not very persuasive, are we? Maybe you should try asking nicer.”

Winter pulled the General out of the room before he could hurt their only informant.

-

Four teammates, and now girlfriends, stared at Blake’s bed awkwardly.

“So...,” Yang said slowly.

Ruby was itching to climb back in as she had the past few weeks.

“It seems that everyone has been far more rested, as of late, and it would be criminally stupid for us to change anything the night before our first fight in the tournament,” Weiss said professionally. Despite her tone, her face was a light shade of pink.

Ruby grinned.

“Can’t argue with logic!” she said, throwing herself into the bed.

Her teammates followed after her, leaving her sandwiched between Weiss and Blake, which was a common occurrence.

Yang was already sprawled out, her arm reaching out underneath the rest of her team as they got comfortable.

Blake wrapped herself around Ruby’s small form, her other arm reaching out to pull Weiss shoulder to shoulder with Ruby.

The team leader grinned and took the chance to set her head on the other girl’s chest.

The four were out like a light within five minutes.

-

Cinder’s plans hadn’t gone exactly as planned.

Roman and his lackey had been captured, their first attempt to get into the tournament system had been a failure (as the dance had been canceled, robbing them of the opportunity. Thankfully, General Ironwood wasn’t exceedingly cautious), and the tournament rules were going through some last minute changes that she wasn’t privy to.

But that was of no import. She would get what she wanted, and the rest of the power of the Fall Maiden would be hers.


	32. First Matches

As expected by almost every announcer and spectator, team RWBY emerged victorious from their first match against team ABRN.

What wasn't so expected was the slight awkwardness of the team that had never been there before.

Blake and Weiss were thrown against each other, sending them careening to the ground. Blake had landed on top of her teammate, and the two had stared at one another until Yang had yelled at them to knock it off. This had prompted them to scramble to their feet and rejoin the battle.

As Yang used Blake's ribbon to tie up the other team's leader, she'd thrown a wink toward the faunus, causing her to turn a light pink shade and to become distracted for a moment.

Ruby had caught Weiss, through the use of her speed semblance to make it in time, and the heiress had just looked up at her partner, grinning like a moron (as she would later claim). Blake had snapped them out of it this time.

Those weren't the only odd occurrences, but they were the most noticeable ones (as most people didn't seem to have seen Yang get distracted as she checked out Weiss in the final moments of their fight).

The four trudged out of the stadium afterwards, Ruby leading her teammates eagerly to food.

Ruby, Weiss, and Yang ordered ramen, while Blake got a bowl filled to the brim with fish, which made her start drooling almost immediately.

"I'll pay," Weiss offered, as she often did.

Her card was, however, declined, and she grimaced, sliding it back into her pocket.

She was quite sure of why her father had blocked her cards, and she didn't want to mention them around Blake.

Pyrrha had saved the day, and Blake had been able to eat her precious fish.

Because of her food, it took Blake a moment to realize that there was an extra person accompanying team JNPR today.

At Pyrrha's side, Ilia awkward sat, talking quietly with the redhead when she wasn't distracted by team RWBY.

Blake wiped her mouth and gave her old friend a small smile.

"Ilia, it's good to see you," she said.

Ilia jumped and looked at her, seeming as if she hadn't even realized she was even there until just now.

"Hey, Blake," she said, voice a bit awkward as she waved at her.

"You come to watch the tournament?"

"Pyrrha wanted me to come and cheer on her team."

"That's right! We have a match in a few minutes! I'm gonna make those poor guys wish they'd never been born!" Nora exclaimed, slamming her fist down on the table enthusiastically.

Ren put a hand on her shoulder to calm her down, not looking away from his food.

Jaune groaned and clutches his stomach.

"If I throw up on the battlefield, I'm blaming you guys," he said, struggling to get to his feet.

Ilia regarded him with a hint of disgust in her eyes, which Blake found odd.

"Good luck! Maybe we'll come too!" Ruby said excitedly.

She was always up to watch a good fight!

Team JNPR, plus Ilia, hurried to the battle while team RWBY finished their food.

Weiss glanced at the sky and saw a familiar airship flying above.

"Is that...," she trailed off, eyes wide.

She took off suddenly, and her girlfriends were left to chase after her.

"Weiss, where are you going?!" Ruby cried, turning on her semblance so that she could keep up.

Blake and Yang were forced to race after them, almost getting lost in the crowd several times.

Weiss skidded to a stop as she saw her sister making her way out of the airship, looking down at the rest of the human population with general annoyance.

"Winter!"

Ruby slammed into Weiss' back, sending the pair collapsing to the ground.

Winter barely kept a straight face as the final two members of team RWBY arrived, looking down at their teammates and starting to laugh.

Weiss hurriedly to her feet, leaving Blake to help Ruby up a few moments later, and hurried toward her sister.

"Winter, it's great to see you!" she said excitedly. Well, excited for Weiss standards, that is.

Her sister raised an eyebrow and looked down at her, gaze shifting to the three other members of her team.

"It is a pleasure to see you as well, Weiss."

"Friend Weiss!"

Weiss narrowly avoided being thrown to the ground by an overexcitable robot, who then raced toward Ruby.

Winter watched her sister's teammates with a raised eyebrow, sighing slightly.

Weiss grimaced and fidgeted awkwardly.

Maybe having Penny here would make this whole thing better for her.

After all, last time she'd seen Winter...

Weiss' eyes bulged as she suddenly remembered what Winter had told her.

You and I were always quite similar.

Because Winter... liked Penny?!

-

Ilia watched team JNPR fighting, but her gaze was locked on Pyrrha.

The redhead fought with such grace and poise, flipping through the air and striking her opponents with... Ilia couldn’t describe it.

Every attack that came Pyrrha’s way made Ilia’s heart stop. Thought almost nothing came close to hitting the redhead, Ilia still couldn’t stop herself from worrying.

Jaune, however, was another story.

Almost everything that came within five feet of him somehow ended up hitting him either in the face or the gut. Ilia didn’t particularly like Jaune, in fact she disliked him (even if her reasoning wasn’t fair), but soon she’d stopped being silently amused when he was hit and instead embarrassed for him.

The fight drew to a close, with the only major hiccup being the entire team forgetting their team moves and having a loud argument about it before Nora excitedly finished the other team with a swing from her hammer.

Ilia raced down to the opening that let the fighters out of the arena, eyes searching until they landed on Pyrrha.

“You did incredible,” Ilia gushed, hoping her scales hadn’t turned pink.

Pyrrha smiled.

“Yes, I think our team has improved a lot over the past couple of weeks.”

Ilia shook her head and found courage she didn’t know she had. She put her hand on Pyrrha’s arm to stop her from speaking further.

“No, I mean... yes, your team did great, but you were amazing.”

The redhead smiled broadly.

“Thank you, Ilia.”

Ilia still got dizzy whenever that grin was directed at her, and she knew that was a recipe for disaster.


	33. Family Feud

Winter smiled very slightly as she saw Penny enthusiastically greeting Weiss’ teammates.

Her younger sister awkwardly stood at her side, wondering if Winter was going to say anything.

Weiss wasn’t prepared, however, when she did.

“How are things between you and that Ruby girl?”

Weiss nearly choked.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Winter.”

Her older sister glanced at her, a single eyebrow raised a fraction of an inch.

Weiss sighed and crossed her arms defensively.

“Things are complicated,” she said finally.

“Oh? Is that so?”

Before Weiss could respond, there was a loud yell from across the courtyard.

“Special Agent Winter, is that what they call you now?”

The voice clearly care from a heavily drunken man, who Weiss instantly zeroed in on.

He wobbled slightly on his feet, his eyes even slightly glazed. He had a scruffy beard that clearly came from him apathetically refusing to shave.

“Who’s that?”

“Who let you in here?” Winter asked snidely, eyes narrowed as she watched the man approach.

“Doesn’t matter,” he said.

“Somewhere, a barkeeper is missing his best customer.”

The drunken man approached and smiled opening his arms.

In his hand, a familiar-looking weapon extended.

Winter drew her own rapier and watched him with caution.

“Uncle Qrow?” two voices asked as one.

Weiss’ eyes shot to her girlfriends.

“This drunken buffoon is your uncle?!”

“Don’t call him that!” Ruby said defensively, and Weiss internally chided herself.

She really shouldn’t be so callous toward her girlfriend’s uncle... especially since he was an uncle to two of them.

The man, Qrow, tightened his grip on his weapon, pulling it back slightly, tempting Winter, who raised her own in return.

Before he could finish goading her, however, a hand shot forward and grabbed Qrow’s weapon.

“Attacking or threatening a government official is a federal crime that is punishable with up to five days of jail time. I suggest that you reconsider.”

Qrow turned, finding himself face to face with Penny, who was smiling kindly at him, though there was a light in her eyes that Weiss had never seen before. Almost... angry?

Qrow tugged on his weapon, but Penny’s arm didn’t budge an inch.

Winter watched the exchange, a small smirk appearing on her face.

“Where’d you get this thing?” Qrow rasped.

He tugged his weapon.

“Would you tell her to lay off?”

“I’m combat ready,” Penny said, though she sounded far less enthusiastic than she normally did. She sounded as if it was a warning.

“Uncle Qrow!” two voices cried.

The drunken man turned and was met by two forms that tackled him to the ground.

“Hey, girls,” he said, grinning at them lazily.

Penny dropped the weapon, deeming the drunkard not a threat, and walked up to Winter.

“Are you alright, Friend Winter?” she asked, green eyes shifting back to the concern that team RWBY was used to.

“Yes, thank you, Penny. I’m afraid I would have done something ill-advised if you hadn’t intervened when you did.”

Penny smiled brightly, saluting Winter.

“You’ll have to let me pay you back some time,” Winter said, her tone shifting and lowering an octave.

Penny didn’t understand the change, but she smiled nonetheless.

“That sounds wonderful, Friend Winter! I would love to stay, but if you’re alright, then I really must get going!”

“A shame. I am alright, Penny. Hurry along, I wouldn’t want you to be late.”

Penny turned to go, but hesitated.

“Will you be watching my fight?” she asked.

Winter smiled at her again, if thinly.

“I will, Penny. I’ve been ordered to, remember?”

Penny frowned slightly.

“Is that the only reason?” she asked finally.

Winter’s smirk was enough to tell Weiss that she had intended for Penny to say that.

Winter leaned forward, putting her face close to Penny’s own.

“Of course not.”

Penny smiled excitedly before taking off toward the stadium.

Weiss gaped at her sister incredulously.

Winter didn’t seem to notice, as she was far too proud of herself for the exchange that had just occurred.

“What are you doing here?” Ruby asked her uncle as the three picked themselves up off the ground.

“I’m here to see you two rascals,” he ruffled her hair, “after all, someone has to make sure you two don’t get yourselves killed.”

Yang scoffed while Ruby started to excitedly speak.

“But we do have people that do that!” she gestured at Blake for emphasis.

The faunus waved awkwardly.

“Who’s this?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“That’s my partner, Blake,” Yang said, smirking as Blake tried to make a good impression.

Qrow opened his mouth to continue speaking, but was interrupted by the sound of footsteps behind him.

He turned and was met by General Ironwood and Professor Ozpin.

Qrow glanced over his shoulder at the two sisters, giving them a small smile.

“Sorry, girls, I’ve got a little busy to attend to. I’ll be back soon,” he said, following the other two men out of the courtyard.

“Weiss, you and I should catch up over lunch.”

Despite Winter’s words sounding like a suggestion, though Weiss knew that it was anything but.

She waved at her girlfriends (the word still made her stomach fill with butterflies) with an apologetic smile as she was led away by Winter.

Ruby turned to Yang and Blake, grinning widely.

“Uncle Qrow, Weiss’ sister, and Blake’s parents are here. You know what that means?”

Blake almost groaned.

“Meet the family!” Ruby cried.

Blake already felt a headache starting up.


	34. Family Secrets

Weiss sat across from Winter, trying her hardest not to fidget. The two of them were seated in a private room of a restaurant, Winter having asked for one after sensing Weiss’ skittishness.

There was a heavy silence in the air that weighed the younger sister down, though the elder didn’t seem to notice.

Weiss had a sudden empathy for Yang and Ruby.

They were dating the same two people, sharing them.

Weiss could barely share a civil conservation with her sister.

She was glad that Ruby and Yang were the two sisters that had to share, as their bond was much more stable than Winter’s and her own.

“What did you mean by complicated earlier?” Winter asked, holding her tea serenely.

Weiss wished they could take about anything but this.

“Ruby and I... we are together, now.”

Winter took another sip of her drink.

“I don’t see how that makes it complicated.”

“That’s not... everything.”

Winter took another sip, eyeing her sister over the cup.

“Because... I’m also dating Yang and Blake.”

Winter choked on her tea, coughing loudly.

Weiss watched her worriedly, wondering if she’d have to use the little bit of first aid knowledge she knew.

When Winter was able to breath once again, she fixed her sister with an incredulous stare.

“My apologies, I must have misheard you, because I thought you just said you were dating every member of your team.”

Weiss’ face turned a bright red.

“I am,” she said, barely keeping her voice from cracking.

She cleared her throat and continued.

“We’re all dating each other. Excluding Ruby and Yang, for obvious reasons.”

Winter slowly set her tea down on the table gently.

“Are you attempting to play some sort of practical joke on me?”

Weiss’ eyes widened and she shook her head.

“No, I’m not.”

Winter took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.

Weiss gave her a small, hesitant smile.

-

“So you’re both dating her,” Qrow vaguely gestured at Blake, “and Winter’s little sister?”

“Weiss,” Ruby supplied.

“Right, Weiss,” Qrow said, his scratchy voice sounding almost apathetic, “you’re dating them both?”

“Yes.”

Qrow burst out laughing, and the three exchanged glances with one another.

“The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, does it?” he said finally.

Yang and Ruby frowned in confusion.

“What?”

“Taiyang never told you, did he? Not a surprise, after everything,” Qrow muttered the last part to himself.

“Never told us what?” Yang demanded.

“About him and your mothers.”

Ruby and Yang motioned for Qrow to continue.

“They were all together as well.”

Yang and Ruby gaped.

“Going to school with them was torture. Watching my sister as she fell head over heels for those two idiots. Hated every second of it. Your father, and Ruby’s mother, was quite the charmer. Snake charmers, that is,” Qrow said, smiling just slightly.

He glanced at Blake, who eyed him darkly, waiting for him to make a faunus joke.

He kept his mouth shut, which she thought was wise.

“Looks like it’s a family thing.”

Qrow took a drink from his flask.

“Can’t believe I’m dealing with this again,” he muttered.


	35. Family Arrangements

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey the comments on this story have been so nice and inspiring! Thank you so much for it! I know I haven’t said anything about my plans for this story yet, and I’m sorry. I plan to get through a very changed version of canon considering everything I’ve done so far. I even intend to go so far as the next generation, which will be super fun!

"As much as I would... like to stay and chat, I must get going," Winter said.

Weiss jumped at the opportunity to have the upper hand for the first time.

"So that you can see your robotic girlfriend?"

"She's not a robot," Winter snapped, "she has an aura."

Weiss grinned broadly, and her sister grimaced just slightly at her mistake.

"She's not my girlfriend, either."

Weiss smile only widened.

"You wish she was, though, don't you?"

"That's irrelevant," Winter said immediately.

She needs Penny, or at least someone like her, Weiss thought, because she's the only one that can thaw her heart. Oh, dust, Yang must be corrupting me. I'm starting to make puns like her.

In Weiss' head, she could imagine Yang's smirk she got every time she made one of her inane jokes.

Winter thought for a moment, imagining Penny's playful smile, her childish innocence.

"Though perhaps it is... accurate," she finally admitted.

Weiss smirked.

"Either way, you really must continue your practice with summoning."

Winter easily gained the upper hand, once again, with those words. She hurried off, headed to the stadium to watch Penny's fight.

Weiss was glad her sister covered the bill, because her father still had her credit cards frozen.

She had a few guesses as to why that was. The first was that he was mad at her for not returning his calls. The second was the newspaper a few days ago that had said she was on a team with a faunus.

-

“So you’re telling me... that my mom, Ruby’s mom, and our father were all together? At the same time?”

“Yeah, kid. Thought you of all people would be able to understand that kind of relationship,” Qrow rasped.

“Is... is that why she left?” Yang asked softly.

“Was it too much for her to take?”

Qrow started.

“What? No, of course not. Your mother was always a rotten bi.. uh, anyways... she left after Summer died. She couldn’t stand to watch you two grow up, not when you reminded her so much of Summer.”

Yang sat down on Weiss’ bed roughly, making the entire piece of furniture shake under her weight.

Blake and Ruby exchanged a glance with one another, neither sure what to say.

“It had nothing to do with their... unorthodox relationship,” Qrow said gently. He had a look of regret in his eyes and he set a hand on Yang’s arm.

“You don’t have anything to worry to about. At least... not that,” he said.

Before she could respond, the doorknob turned and Weiss stuck her head in.

The rest of her followed a moment after, though she eyed Qrow with distrust.

“That’s her, isn’t it?”

Yang nodded.

“I think you three could have done better,” he said, smirking.

Weiss glared at him while Yang slapped his arm.

He laughed and shook his head at the four.

“Where’s your sister?” he asked Weiss, glancing around as if expecting Winter to appear out of nowhere.

“She’s out watching her new girlfriend.”

Qrow choked on a sip of his drink.

“Her new what?”

Weiss’ girlfriends looked just as intrigued at the idea, and she sighed.

“Winter’s watching Penny’s match right now.”

“Winter’s dating Penny?!” Ruby cried.

“No, but she probably will be,” Weiss said absently, taking a seat next to Yang.

“What’s wrong with her?” she asked, gesturing at her blond girlfriend.

“Family stuff,” Ruby said. Her expression seemed to promise an explanation later, so Weiss dropped it for the moment.

“Wait, who’s Penny?” Qrow asked.

“The girl that stopped you from picking a fight with my sister,” Weiss said dryly.

“Her? But she looked Ruby’s age.”

“She’s a whole lot younger than Ruby,” Yang said, smirking.

Blake slapped her arm.

“Wait... is that the robot project Ironwood’s been talking about?”

“How did you know about that?” Weiss asked instantly, eyes narrowing.

“I know a lot of things,” he said.

“And you’d know a whole lot more if you didn’t get blackout drunk so often,” said Yang, who seemed to be recovering from whatever had upset her.

“Nobody wants to remember everything,” he drawled, a small smirk on his lips.

“Or anything, apparently,” Ruby muttered.

“So your girlfriend’s sister wants to date a robot, but I’m getting picked on for drinking?”

“Yes,” Blake said.

Qrow sighed, rubbing his temples with both hands.

He was starting to get a whole lot of deja vu.

-

Penny had been put on a team of four students, as suggested by that criminal.

Winter was still hesitant to trust anything he said, but he had been talking about Penny’s safety.

That was a nonnegotiable.

Penny was doing most of the work, despite having a team, and the students beside her were just blocking any blows that came their way.

She had summoned a few knives, not anywhere near half as many as she potentially could, and had them doing most of the work.

Penny had to hold back substantially, of course. If she used her flight capabilities or her canons, she would instantly be put under scrutiny.

Despite that, she won the match within five minutes, and the other team didn’t stand a chance at landing a hit on her.

Penny grinned as the buzzer rang, indicating the end of the fight, and her gaze immediately turned to where Winter sat.

She was seating in a lower section of the stands, having gotten the seat due to her employment under a school master, and was smiling back at Penny just slightly.

Penny waved at her enthusiastically.

Winter did a small hand movement back, and Penny’s smile widened even more.

Winter briefly, and distantly, wondered why she had to pick Penny. Couldn’t she have at least picked someone who understood what emotions were?

But Penny had emotions, Winter was more than certain of that.

So Winter just had to... give her a nudge, so to say.

-

“So who are we sending into the doubles round?” Yang asked, glancing at her teammates.

“Didn’t you hear? There’s no doubles round this year,” Qrow rasped.

“There isn’t?” Ruby asked.

Her uncle shook his head.

“No, it’s going to be all team rounds this year.”

“Why?” Weiss asked, watching the drunken man with obvious distrust.

Qrow was silent for a minute.

“Just... be careful. There’s a reason the schoolmasters decided to do this. He doesn’t want anyone alone.”

“And why’s that?” Blake asked, voice low.

“Something Torchwick said. There’s... agents in the school.”

“Who are they?” Weiss demanded.

“That’s the tricky part. Torchwick hasn’t said anything but riddles. But the important part is... they plan to strike at the end of the tournament.”

Ruby was about to speak, but a knock at the door cut her off.

Blake opened it, and was met with her parents, who were smiling down at her.

“Your father and I just wanted to congratulate you and your... team on your victory today,” Kali said.

Ruby grinned at the familiar voice.

She zipped up to the doorway and opened it wider, causing Blake to almost fall over, as she’d been leaning against it.

Ruby steadied her with an arm around her waist, though she didn’t let it distract her.

“How about you to come inside!” she cried.

Blake’s eyes widened and shot to Ruby’s small form.

“Family meeting!” Ruby hissed next to her ear, smiling warmly at Kali and Ghira.

Blake’s parents stepped inside, and Yang quietly groaned.

Ruby let go of Blake, almost causing her girlfriend to fall over again, and rushed to Weiss, using her semblance.

She snatched Weiss’ scroll and rolled through the contacts.

“Ruby, what are you doing?” Weiss asked, annoyed.

Ruby let out a small sound of victory as she clicked on Winter’s contact.

Weiss’ eyes bulged and she leapt after her phone, which Ruby held high in the air to keep the heiress from reaching.

Family meeting, my dorm room. Bring Penny!

Ruby sent it and dropped the scroll into Weiss’ waiting hand, spinning back to face their other guests.

Qrow raised an eyebrow, looking slightly amused.

Ghira has taken a seat and Kali was settled down next to him, speaking quietly with Blake.

Ruby let out a breath before turning her smile up to the max, even as Weiss struggled to figure out how to stop her sister from coming. From her frustrated groan, if didn’t seem to be working.

Yang glanced at her sister and sighed sufferingly.

Ruby didn’t care.

They were having a family meeting!

If only their father could be here...


	36. Fallen

“You want me to... what?” Pyrrha asked.

“We want you to become our next Fall Maiden, Pyrrha,” Ozpin said in that comforting tone of his.

Pyrrha knew they were speaking, Ozpin and the General, but she couldn’t hear a word they said.

“I... I’ve got to think about this,” Pyrrha said, hurrying from the room and outside.

She trailed through the courtyards, her head down.

“Pyrrha?” two voices ask.

The redhead turns, finding Jaune and Ilia standing side by side.

Both have worried looks on their faces, and they’re watching her intently.

“What’s wrong?” Ilia continued, taking a step closer to Pyrrha.

The redhead shook her head, eyes darting to a fallen leaf as it drifted to the ground.

“How about you and I get some fresh air,” Ilia asked gently.

“Yeah, I’ll come too,” Jaune said.

Pyrrha considered for a moment.

“No, I... I think I’ll just go with Ilia.”

The faunus gave Pyrrha a small smile and followed her as she started walking down the pavement.

They came to a stop a few minutes later, taking a seat on the ground.

“You helped me when I was broken. If there’s anything I can do, tell me,” Ilia said gently.

Pyrrha considered for a moment, her hand coming to rest on Ilia’s own.

The faunus sucked in a deep breath of shock, glancing at her friend.

“I’ve... always felt that it was to protect the world. That might some... conceited, but... I always thought I would be able to do something grand that would help everyone.”

Pyrrha sighed and tightened her hand around Ilia’s own.

“But... I don’t know. Is your destiny worth your very soul?” she asked.

Ilia sat in silence for a minute.

“I used to believe in destiny,” she said finally, her voice soft and gentle, flowing in the afternoon wind, “I used to believe that we were all made for something, and even someone. But as time went by, I started to see that... life doesn’t care. It doesn’t care about who you are or what you do or what happens to you. For a while, that made me... depressed. I thought that, since nothing mattered, then I didn’t matter, and the people I hurt didn’t matter. But I was wrong. You make your own destiny, as cliché as it sounds. What you do is up to you, Pyrrha.”

Ilia paused for a moment, making sure that she made eye contact with her friend.

“And I’m certain that you’ll make the right decision, Pyrrha.”

“What makes you so sure?” Pyrrha asked, voice wavering.

“Because you’re the best person I’ve ever met, and I have faith in you.”

“But I don’t have faith in me.”

“You don’t have to. The world believes in you, Jaune believes in you, your team believes in you... and I believe in you. You’re Pyrrha Nikos, and you’re going to do something great with your life. Not because it’s your destiny, but because you’re you.”

Pyrrha was in tears now.

Ilia felt the other girl collapse, putting her head on her shoulder and crying against her gently.

Ilia awkwardly patted her on the back, running a hand down it comfortingly.

She had no idea what was going on with Pyrrha, but she was there for her anyways.


	37. Family Meeting

Team RWBY had just finished their fight against team FNKY, and had another in fifteen minutes, but that didn’t stop Ruby from enthusiastically gathering the various assorted family members in town inside of the dorm room.

Winter Schnee was seated across from her ex-boyfriend, and two middle aged faunus that watched her as if they expected her to suddenly attack.

Penny didn’t seem to notice the awkwardness in the air, however, and instead enthusiastically started speaking.

“Winter has informed me of the four of you! Congratulations!” she said to team RWBY.

“My name is Penny Polendina, and I’m friends with team RWBY!” she said, offering her hand for the people across the table to shake.

Qrow accepted it hesitantly, regretting it instantly as his hand was almost broken from the girl’s strength.

“Never thought this would be how I met a Schnee,” Ghira muttered.

Kali smiles slightly.

“They seem perfectly pleasant so far, Honey. Play nice.”

“I can assure you that Winter is a very pleasant person!” Penny said happily.

The two faunus glanced at her, clearly wondering how she had heard them.

Perhaps she should calibrate the hearing capacity for a normal human and attempt to only respond to noises within that distance...

“Thank you, Penny,” Winter said, a small smile on her face.

Qrow snorted into his drink, and Winter sent him a dark look.

Ruby anxiously watched the adults speaking.

“Maybe... Christmas will be a bit awkward,” the team leader muttered to Blake beside her.

The faunus glanced up from her book, which Ruby realized she’d gotten to avoid the tense situation, and nodded, an amused smile playing on her lips.

“We tried to warn you,” she whispered back.

“Yeah, we did,” Yang chimed in.

Ruby crossed her arms, huffing.

“Excuse me for trying to help,” she grouched.

Blake put an arm around her waist, pulling the younger girl into her lap absentmindedly.

Ruby made a quiet sound of surprise, glancing at her girlfriend’s parents, wondering if they would be upset.

The two were still in the middle of a conversation with Winter, Penny, and Qrow.

It was a rather tense, awkward conversation, but Ruby supposed that didn’t matter.

It was still a conversation!

There were loud, thundering footsteps down the hall, causing Blake’s ears to prick up.

Ruby, not knowing why, giggles slightly, playing with the cat ears gently.

Blake huffed and flicked an ear at Ruby’s hand, but that only made her laugh harder.

Moments later, the footsteps only grew louder.

Blake watched the door as it was flung open, revealing an impossibly tall figure, who panted heavily. He had messy blond hair, which she supposed could have been due to his race to their dorm, and familiarly kind eyes.

“Dad?!” two voices cried as one.

Ruby tumbled out of Blake’s lap, almost falling over in the process, and used her semblance to tackle the man.

He laughed, not even stumbling, and wrapped his arms around her.

Yang vaulted over a chair, almost sending Weiss tumbling to the ground, and followed after her younger sister.

This time, their father was sent sprawling onto the ground in a heap, laughing as he looked at his daughters.

“What are you doing here?” Ruby asked after their father picked himself up slightly, sitting down on the ground.

“Can’t I just come see my wonderful daughters?” he asked.

Yang raised an eyebrow as she sat up as well.

“Alright, alright,” he said, holding up his hands in defeat.

“Your uncle told me about these two,” he gestured vaguely at Blake and Weiss, who were watching Taiyang as if the weirdness of his offspring had been suddenly explained.

“Qrow!” Ruby whined.

He held up his hands, smirking slightly.

“A Schnee, huh? And a faunus? How’d you manage to do that?” Taiyang asked.

Blake’s parents bristled are the words, glancing at their daughter.

Blake didn’t seem bothered. In fact, she seemed almost... fond watching the two girls talk to their father in excitement.

“What can I say? You raised a charmer,” Yang said smugly, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

Weiss snorted, causing Ruby to burst out laughing as well.

Yang glared at the two traitors.

Blake smirked, and Yang threw her hands up in the air.

“This is abuse,” she claimed.

“I hate to ruin this... touching moment, but, if I’m not mistaken, the four of you have a battle in two minutes, don’t you?”

Ruby and Yang scrambled to their feet.

Weiss cursed quietly, grabbing her rapier and clipping it to her belt hurriedly.

Ruby raced forward and stopped beside Weiss, glancing at her sister.

“You get Blake?”

Yang nodded.

“What?” Blake asked.

Ruby grabbed Weiss by the waist and took off in a flurry of rose petals.

She squealed in surprise, her voice being heard down the hallway.

Yang set her hands on Blake’s waist, and the faunus shook her head.

“I can run,” she said quickly.

“Where’s the fun in that?”

Blake went to protest, but Yang has already thrown the shorter girl into her arms, holding her bridal style.

Yang turned her semblance on and took off, using the extra strength it gave her to run at inhuman speeds.

The rest of the room’s occupants watched the doorway with wide eyes.

Qrow and Taiyang caught each other’s eyes and grinned before bursting out laughing.

Ruby and Yang started down hallways and raced toward the stadium.

Weiss clutched Ruby tightly, eyes closed tightly.

Blake was yelling at Yang to stop, which just made the blond’s smile widen.

Yang and Ruby skidded to a stop as they stepped into the arena.

Weiss and Blake both glared at the two of them, but let themselves relax slightly.

That was a bad decision.


	38. Last Match

"I swear I saw him," Coco said, rubbing her temple in frustration.

She'd broken her sunglasses during her team's fight, and she felt a bit unnatural without them on.

"It's alright, Coco," Velvet comforted, setting her hand on her girlfriend's back and rubbing it gently.

"But I swear he was there!" she snapped, growling to herself.

Velvet didn't respond, instead pulling a pair of sunglasses from her backpack and pressing them into Coco's hands.

The fashionista glanced at her and smiled thinly, slipping them over her eyes and feeling the immediate comfort they brought with them.

"Thanks," she muttered, pushing herself to her feet and holding a hand out to Velvet.

"Maybe I did just imagine it..."

-

Team RWBY had a suspiciously easy time against their opponents.

The fight ended with Yang fighting against Mercury, finishing him off in record time.

It was impossible to imagine these four defeating team CFVY.

Mercury stood, smiling broadly at Yang.

"Good match," he said, holding out his hand.

Yang reacted instinctively to the threat, rearing her arm back and striking him in the leg.

"Stay down!" she yelled.

Ruby, Weiss, and Blake watched her in absolute shock.

Yang glanced at them, confused.

Several guards raced forward to grab Yang, which shocked her teammates into action.

Blake put a hand on the first one's chest, halting them, while Weiss stepped in between her girlfriend and another advancing man. Ruby drew Crescent Rose and held it in front of her threateningly.

There was mass anger from the stands, and Yang glanced up, still confused.

Her eyes darted to the giant screen at the top of the stadium, which showed a replay of a scene she didn't recognize.

Her fist connected with Mercury's leg while he attempted to congratulate her for her victory.

"That's not... that's not what happened!" Yang cried.

Blake glanced back at her, taking in the look in her girlfriend's eyes.

They were filled with concern and confusion, and not a hint of malice or anger shown on her expression.

Blake felt herself calm slightly. That wasn't the face of a guilty woman.

Whatever had happened, Yang hadn't meant to hurt an innocent man.

Her fear quelled slightly, and thoughts of him seeped out of her mind.

Yang was nothing like him, and she'd never given Blake a reason to think she was.

The guards guided their team out of the stadium, Yang still in a state of shock.

She turned to her closest teammate, which happened to be Blake.

“I didn’t mean to,” she said. Her voice was pleading and almost pitiful, as if she was begging Blake to understand.

The faunus was silent for a moment, staring at her girlfriend.

Images of Adam flashed through her mind.

Images of lies and heartaches, times he had sworn he was only doing what he had to.

But, after a second, different images flooded through her thoughts.

Yang smiling, her playful nature, her sincere eyes, the pleading in her eyes...

“I know, Yang. I know,” she whispered.

Blake slide her hand into Yang’s own, holding it gently.

Yang calmed slightly, staring straight into Blake’s eyes.

Weiss reached up, setting a hand on Yang’s shoulder. Ruby flashed a small thumbs up over Weiss’ shoulder.

Yang let out a breath of relief.

Her worry wasn’t gone, but the panic was starting to deep out of her.

As long as Ruby and their girlfriends believed her... she would be alright.

But she had seen him attacking her.

-

Pyrrha was breathing irregularly.

After this fight, she had to tell Ozpin her decision.

And, for once in her life, Pyrrha wasn’t certain.

She was walking into the stadium with her team and Ilia, who stood by her side, as she always did.

Pyrrha smiled thinly at that.

Ever since Ilia had decided to switch sides, she and Pyrrha had been all but inseparable, and the redhead found herself enjoying it.

Ilia’s presence was unlike anyone else in her life. It was comforting and assuring, protecting Pyrrha when she was uncertain.

Ilia’s words still rang in her head, and she considered them.

This decision was up to her, and nobody else.

Not Ozpin, not General Ironwood... and not even destiny.

The choices that Pyrrha made were her own... and she’d decided which path to follow.

She set her hand on Ilia’s shoulder, whispering a quiet, “thank you,” to the faunus.

Ilia seemed surprised, but she nodded, smiling up at Pyrrha.

“You’re going to do amazing,” Ilia said, though Pyrrha knew she wasn’t only referring to the fight.

-

Winter looked up from her scroll, eyes narrowed.

Penny walked by excitedly with her team of four, headed toward the arena, and Winter reached a hand out, setting it on her shoulder.

“Penny, be careful,” she said softly, aware of anyone else that might be overhearing.

“Don’t worry, Friend Winter! I’m combat ready!”

“That’s not what concerns me, Penny.”

Winter’s eyes darted around, making sure that the other girl’s team was gone.

“You’re fighting against Pyrrha Nikos, whose semblance is polarity. I don’t want you to get hurt.”

Penny took a moment to consider before nodding, smiling.

“I will, Friend Winter,” Penny stopped for a moment before smiling wider, “Are you concerned for me?”

Winter crossed her arms.

“That’s what I said,” she said, slightly defensive.

“I thought you were supposed to be professional.”

“Yes, well... even I am not above having personal feelings.”

Penny mouthed the words to herself, an almost perplexed look on her face.

“You have personal feelings for me?” she asked, suddenly.

Winter’s face flushed.

“Well, yes, I suppose.”

Penny smiled broadly.

“I have personal feelings for you too, Friend Winter,” she said excitedly.

Before Winter could respond, Penny’s teammate, Ciel, called for her to hurry.

Penny smiled at Winter, waving as she quickly raced after her teammates.

Winter cursed until her breath.

That girl was going to be the death of her, she was sure of it.

-

Cinder smirked, watching Emerald get into place.

Yes, everything was going according to plan...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We’re getting to the end! Let’s hope SOME things turn out differently than the show...


	39. Calamity

Yang had disqualified her team from the competition, which she had apologized for no less than three times, and was receiving a lot of angry responses for her attack on Mercury.

Her teammates had assured her that they believed that she hadn’t meant to attack an innocent man, but Yang still felt worried.

The four of them were now seated in the audience, watching the final match of the tournament.

Penny’s team of students none of them knew was facing team JNPR, and their team was cheering for JNPR, if only because they were from the same school.

Yang was startled out of her slightly petulant state when Coco sat down beside her, arms crossed.

Velvet joined her girlfriend, the two of them watching the match.

“Don’t worry about earlier today,” Coco said, “you’re not the only one that saw something that wasn’t there.”

Yang frowned.

“What are you talking about?”

“I thought I saw Yatsu in the woods with me earlier, but he was already disqualified then. I guess we’re all seeing things.”

Yang glanced at her teammates, who were now all giving Coco their full attention.

The older team leader shrugged.

“It doesn’t really matter, I guess, but... I could have sworn I saw him.”

Velvet set a hand on her girlfriend’s shoulder consolingly.

Ruby went to speak, but stopped when she saw...

“Emerald?” she asked aloud, causing the others sitting near her to follow her gaze.

Their classmate, who they had all seen leave with Mercury, sat a few rows down, watching the fight with a slight smirk on her face.

“What’s she doing here?” Weiss asked, eyes narrowed.

“Something’s going on. If Coco and Yang saw something, and now Emerald’s here...,” Blake trailed off, her face contemplative.

“We need to go talk to her. Now,” Yang said, standing.

Her girlfriends, and Ruby, followed her immediately, making their way into the halls that allowed transportation between levels.

As they neared where Emerald stood, however, they were intercepted by...

“Mercury,” Yang growled, eyes already flickering to a bright red color.

-

Pyrrha stepped onto the arena, her team following behind her.

The first member of the other team stepped up, grinning broadly and waving at the stadium. Penny stopped as her eyes fell on Winter, and then waved even more enthusiastically.

This time, there was no randomized terrain, and the fight was started almost immediately.

Penny smiled at her opponents as she drew a few of her knives from her back, though to most it appeared that it had come from her backpack.

She only drew roughly half a dozen, but to Pyrrha’s eyes the swords multiplied several times until there were countless swords behind the other girl and her teammates.

Pyrrha held out her hand in fear, her semblance preparing for action.

-

Winter saw what was happening a second before it did, and she cried out.

She had to stop it.

Winter threw herself over the barrier between the first row of stands, which was reserved for staff, and the stadium.

She sprinted at full speed, summoning several glyphs under her path to hasten her approach.

-

Penny frowned at the worried look on her fellow redhead’s face, and saw the girl’s teammates doing the same.

Penny took a step forward, wondering if she needed to comfort her competitor (even though she’d been told repeatedly not to halt her attacks until the opponents had been drained of their auras).

Pressure suddenly built up against Penny’s chest, and her eyes widened.

The other girl’s semblance was...

-

Winter skidded to a stop through the use of a glyph, putting herself between Pyrrha and Penny, her hand thrown up in the air.

“Wait!” she cried.

Pyrrha froze, her gaze flickering between Winter and Penny.

“Don’t hurt her!” Winter continued, taking a step back toward Penny protectively.

“W-what’s going on?”

-

Ruby used her semblance to race past Mercury, leaving him to be dealt with by the rest of her team, and continued down the hallway toward Emerald.

She skidded to a stop, eyes flickering toward the screen, where she saw Pyrrha watching Penny with fear.

Ruby reacted without thinking, pulling Crescent Rose out of its sheath and smacking Emerald in the back of the head with it, knocking the girl out.

-

Most of the knives disappeared to Pyrrha’s eyes, and she let out a breath of relief, even though she was still very confused.

“What’s going on?” she asked, her eyes landing on Winter, who was still standing between Penny and herself.

“What’s going on,” a loud voice said over the intercoms, “is that General Ironwood and Professor Ozpin decided it would be a grand idea to showcase their newest weapon against their greatest student. To finally pit man against machine. To finally showcase their technological superiority over the rest of the world, and take control.”

-

Cinder smirked.

Not everything was going quite according to plan, but it was certainly still going well.

-

Panic filled the entire stadium as several audience members started to scream.

Negative emotions filled the air almost like a physical force.

In the distance, the loud roads of Grimm could be heard as thundering footsteps and wing flaps brought the monstrous creatures closer and closer by the second.

When the first Grimm landed in the arena, mass hysteria finally broke out, causing several audience members to bump into one another as they attempted to escape the escalating situation.

Pyrrha watched in shock as more and more Grimm landed, some knocking down walls in their haste.

While her teammates called out to her, she remained motionless, stuck in place as she watched Winter drag Penny out of the center of the stadium.

A Grimm roared ferociously in front of her, but she barely noticed.

Her brain was overloading and her mind felt fuzzy.

The Grimm took a ground shaking footstep toward her, but one voice’s call could be heard over it.

“Pyrrha!” Ilia screamed, racing toward her friend, ducking between students and Grimm, running as fast as her legs would let her.

Ilia threw herself forward, tackling Pyrrha to the ground a moment before the monster could take a bite out of her.

The redhead seemed to snap out of her daze suddenly, eyes focusing on Ilia.

She pushed herself to her feet and helped the faunus up, looking around with worry.

Pyrrha’s first thought was of taking Ilia to safety, but her worry was diminished significantly as Ilia drew her weapon, an extendable sword, and slashed at a nearby Grimm.

“Pyrrha!” Jaune called, racing toward the two of them.

Ilia blocked a Grimm attack just before it could strike Jaune, which startled the team leader.

“Are you alright?” he asked Pyrrha, hardly paying attention to the ongoing battle.

Before Pyrrha could respond, yet another voice called for her.

She spun, eyes falling on Ozpin as he made his way through the calamity of students and monsters.

“It’s time,” he said, spinning his staff to defend himself against a wayward blow.

Pyrrha’s eyes flickered to Ilia for the briefest of moments before she nodded, following Ozpin out of the arena.

Jaune and Ilia were on her heels, both filled to the brim with worry over the redhead.

Pyrrha took a steadying breath.

She had to do this, not because of destiny, but because of who she was.

Ilia was right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wish them luck, they need it!


	40. Come and Take It

“Where are we?” Jaune asked, staring at the vault under the school in wonder.

Ilia remained silent, her eyes flickering around the room warily, her hands tightening on her sword.

Pyrrha had been worried about her soul earlier... what did this have to do with that?

“What’s going on?” Jaune asked, his expression helpless and confused.

“Shut up,” Ilia hissed.

Jaune looked at her, offended.

“What’s your problem with me?!”

“My problem with you is that Pyrrha is in a potentially life-threatening situation, and you’re too worried about details! Shut up and watch her back!” Ilia snapped angrily, not taking her eyes off of Pyrrha.

The redhead glanced back at her, offering a small, grateful smile despite her troublesome situation.

Jaune fell silent, suddenly appearing far more worried than he had a moment ago, his hands tightening on his weapons.

Ozpin directed Pyrrha into a chamber beside a mysterious woman Ilia didn’t recognize, though the headmaster had referred to her as Amber.

“Hurry, we don’t have much time,” Ozpin said.

Pyrrha stepped into the chamber, turning to face outward and watching her friends, eyes worried.

“If you two want to help, watch for intruders,” Ozpin said, not taking his eyes off of the machine as he fired it up.

Ilia nodded and spun, her body turning black to match the colors of the surrounding vault walls. She was lucky she was wearing matching clothes. Ilia stalked into the shadows beside the chambers, blending in with her surroundings perfectly.

Jaune was distracted by Pyrrha as the process began, Amber’s aura being transferred through the machine.

Ilia didn’t let herself be deterred from her mission, and heard footsteps down the hall.

She instantly raised her weapon, crouching down to almost ground level.

The mysterious figure raised a bow into the air, her gaze falling on Amber.

Ilia pounced, throwing herself at the woman and stabbing with Lightning Lash, her weapon.

The woman was shocked, throwing her bow as she attempted to evade Ilia’s strike.

She wasn’t so lucky, and the faunus’ blade sliced into her abdomen, though the wound was far from deadly.

Ilia kicked her bow to the side, watching it slide under a shelf from the corner of her eye.

“Jaune!” she called, crouching back into her fighting stance once again.

JNPR’s team leader spun, eyes widening as he finally saw the assailant.

He rushed forward, almost tripping over his own feet, and raised his sword.

The mysterious woman’s eyes started to glow a bright orange color, which made Ilia instantly uncomfortable.

She’d never seen a semblance do that before.

Behind Ilia and Jaune, Pyrrha screamed and banged her hands against the glass of the chamber, though it made no noise nor gave any sign of visible damage.

Suddenly, Amber’s aura slammed against her own, making her scream for far different reasons.

Two souls fought for dominance over Pyrrha’s body. As the two wars waged, one inside the chamber and the other outside of it, Pyrrha felt herself slipping between her own fingers. The other aura was powerful and determined, having the advantage of half the power of the Fall Maiden on its side. Pyrrha was disappearing, and the more she dissipated, the less she could care. She’d done what she needed to, right? She’d fulfilled her destiny, hadn’t she? She’d saved the world, she hoped, by allowing the Fall Maiden a fighting chance against Cinder.

That was what she had always thought her life had been made for (well, not specifically, but certainly close enough).

So why was there something that called to her, that screamed that Pyrrha was anything but done with her life.

Almost on their own, green eyes shifted and landed on the small, lithe form of Ilia as she struggled against Cinder, barely defending Jaune and keeping herself alive.

Pyrrha found her previously drained will increase tenfold.

Ilia and Jaune needed her.

Pyrrha’s aura struggled against Amber’s own, the two fighting over the remaining bit of the Fall Maiden’s power.

They needed her.

Pyrrha was neck and neck with Amber.

Ilia needed her.

Pyrrha’s aura grabbed control of the remaining bit of the Maiden, shoving Amber’s aura away, rejecting it from Pyrrha’s body.

Pyrrha took a deep breath, as if it was her first.

Two chamber doors popped open, the first letting Amber fall out lifelessly, the second revealing Pyrrha, who stepped out confidently.

She could feel the power of the Maiden coursing through her veins, and instinctively understood how to use it.

Through her semblance, she summoned her weapon, and charged at Cinder.

-

Ilia heard footsteps behind her, and she spun, wondering how long she could last against two opponents, rather than just the one.

She was barely keeping herself and Jaune alive, so the chances were very low that she’d last over a minute.

She didn’t care, though.

She was protecting Pyrrha.

She was protecting the woman she’d fallen in love with, and Ilia would do anything for her.

Ilia raised Lightning Lash, determined.

She’d buy Pyrrha and Ozpin as much time as she could.

But, as she spun to face her newest adversary, she was met with the very woman she had just sworn to protect.

Pyrrha’s eyes were glowing now, just like the mysterious woman’s.

Her sword was raised in front of her, her eyes holding a vengeful light that Ilia had never seen in them before.

“If you want it,” Pyrrha slammed her sword and shield together, morphing them into a spear, “then come and take it.”


	41. The Fall Maiden

Pyrrha and Cinder were almost evenly matched, now.

Both had roughly half the power of the Fall Maiden, and both were highly experienced fighters.

They fought with ease, bringing destruction in their wake.

Ilia watched, trying her best to aid Pyrrha when she could, but the opportunities were few and far between.

The other girl was far better equipped to fight this woman than she, and Ilia didn’t even know what was going on.

Still, she pushed on, doing her best to help.

Pyrrha felt like she was dancing, flowing across their makeshift battlefield with ease and skill that she had never before matched.

The power of the Maiden was self explanatory for her, and she didn’t feel that she had any sort of disadvantage because she had just now acquired it.

Cinder dropped back, eyes wide as Pyrrha mercilessly pressed forward, breaking her spear in half and using her shield to strike the other woman with random attacks.

Cinder seemed to grow more and more worried, more and more concerned.

Her eyes darted to the other members of the room, zeroing in on the annoying faunus that kept attacking her at random.

Pyrrha noticed, and she pushed forward even more, putting herself between Cinder and Ilia angrily.

But, despite her cautious protection of the faunus, Ilia slipped out from behind her, raising Lightning Lash in an attempt to strike Cinder.

Cinder smirked and spun, raising her bow and aiming right at Ilia.

“No!” Pyrrha cried.

She threw her shield, knocking the arrow out of the air with it a moment before it could strike Ilia in the chest.

“Ilia, stay back,” Pyrrha cried, narrowing the distance between her and Cinder.

Ilia dropped back, considering.

She decided to ignore Pyrrha’s warnings and went to rejoin the battle, but Jaune stepped forward, putting a hand on her arm to stop her.

She growled at him, but he didn’t let go.

Pyrrha was growing closer and closer to Cinder, her eyes alight with anger.

Cinder made one final, desperate, attempt.

She shot an arrow from her bow, watching as it bounced against the floor, splintering and flying out in several directions with shrapnel.

Ilia let out a loud gasp, and Pyrrha found herself momentarily distracted.

Cinder took advantage of that, pressing back.

But her advantage was short lived, as Pyrrha’s rage multiplied.

It wasn’t long until Pyrrha had her sword to Cinder’s throat.

“Do you believe in destiny?” Pyrrha asked.

“I do.”

Pyrrha slit her throat without a second thought.

“I don’t.”

Pyrrha turned, racing toward Ilia.

She didn’t even notice when the remaining bit of the Fall Maiden’s powers entered Pyrrha.

She skidded to a stop, sliding on her knees as she neared Ilia.

She ignored Jaune, who sat by Ilia’s side.

The faunus had a large gash in her side, making her breathing significantly shallower.

“We need to get her help,” Pyrrha said, reaching out and wrapping her arms around Ilia’s small form and clutching her gently.

She stood, holding the faunus to her chest.

Ilia coughed, struggling to take a deep breath.

“Pyrrha, I’m alright,” she whispered.

The redhead shook her head.

“I’m already healing, see?” Ilia said, her side starting to slowly stitch itself back together, courtesy of her aura, which, thankfully, had not been drained earlier.

Pyrrha calmed slightly, crouching back down slowly, letting Ilia lay back down.

“You’re alright,” Ilia said softly, smiling.

“Thanks to you,” Pyrrha said.

Ilia looked up at her with a loving glint in her eyes.

Pyrrha suddenly seemed to realize something.

She leaned down, pulling Ilia up to meet her.

“I love you,” she whispered.

Ilia’s eyes bulged, her scales turning a bright pink color.

“I... what?” Ilia asked.

Pyrrha chuckled gently, a fond smile growing on her lips.

“I love you.”

“You do?” Ilia asked, looking hesitantly happy.

Pyrrha nodded, smile still fond.

“Do you mean...,” she trailed off, eyes curious and cautious.

Pyrrha pulled her into a deep kiss, and Ilia melted in her arms instantly.

When Pyrrha pulled back, she was met with an extremely dazed Ilia, who was smiling almost goofily.

When Ilia was capable of speech, she rushed to respond.

“I... you... I love you! I mean, I love you, too! I’m in love with you, too!”

Pyrrha chuckled fondly at the faunus’ enthusiasm, leaning down again, eyes falling on the other girl’s lips.

There was a polite, if somewhat awkward, throat clear behind them, making the two girls look up.

“As touching as this moment is, there are some pressing matters to attend to,” Ozpin said, fixing his glasses.

Jaune was gaping at the two girls.

“I-what-huh? Since when were you two...”

Ilia smiled almost smugly as she wrapped her arms around Pyrrha, the redhead pulling her to her feet.

“Sorry, Jaune. You missed your shot,” Ilia said.

Pyrrha smiled down at her.

She would say that Ilia was her destiny, but then she’d be wrong.

She’d chosen Ilia, had fallen in love with her.

And all of that had been her own decision, not destiny’s.

Pyrrha no longer needed, nor had, a destiny, and it was exhilarating.


	42. Our Fight

The fighting was chaos, and Blake couldn’t tell entirely what was going on.

All she could see was her fellow students and Grimm. She wasn’t certain where she was, but she did know that her girlfriends were at her side.

Everything was going alright, that is for a large scale fight, until she saw... it.

There was a White Fang mask on a faunus that ran past.

Blake’s heart stopped, frozen in her chest.

Yang was the first to notice, and she stepped up beside Blake, blocking a myriad of attacks while she was distracted.

“Blake, what’s wrong?” she asked.

“He’s here,” she whispered, not sure if Yang could hear her. She didn’t care.

-

Coco watched Blake’s frightened expression, and was able to predict the movement of her friends.

“Velv, release Anesidora,” she said, smirking to herself.

Velvet paused for a moment before grinning.

“Really?”

“Oh yeah, we definitely need it.”

Velvet grinned excitedly, and Coco felt her heart warm.

She always loved seeing that smile on her girlfriend’s face, and watching her use Anesidora was always impressive.

Velvet drew her weapon and instantly began to copy several weapons from her friends.

Coco watches, a cool smirk on her face and her arms crossed.

This was going to be fun to watch.

-

Blake took off at a run, and Yang followed after her instantly.

“Ruby, Weiss!” Yang called.

The two immediately turned and followed them, Ruby tugging Weiss by their connected hands.

Blake was hyperventilating.

He was here.

She was freaking out, and she found herself irresistibly drawn to the center of fighting.

She knows it’s stupid, but she wants it to be over. She wants to find him, to finish it.

She had a new life, new friends, and a new relationship with the three best people she knew.

She needed to end this, because Ruby, Weiss, and Yang deserved better.

They deserved a girlfriend that could move on from her past and be there for them fully without any baggage.

Blake was determined to give this to them.

Her resolve strengthened, until she heard a voice.

“Blake!”

She skidded to a stop, eyes slowly turning to face him.

Adam Taurus stood in a pile of Grimm bodies, though Blake thought she was more than a few people littered there as well. The thought sickened her.

“There you are, I’ve been looking all over for you,” he drawled, stepping over a corpse.

Blake froze yet again, staring up at him.

“You’re a coward, Blake. I could have given you everything! But you ran. You ran like a scared little girl, like you always do when things get hard!” Adam drew his sword and reached his hand out, grabbing onto a student that was trying to flee.

The student gasped, trying to pull themself away.

Blake vaguely recognized them from one of her other classes.

Their aura was completely drained, and they struggled weakly in Adam’s arms.

“Let them go!” Blake cried, eyes widening.

Adam smiled maliciously.

“Why don’t you make me?”

Blake drew her weapon and threw herself at Adam, but he slammed his elbow against her, throwing her to the ground harshly.

She gasped, grabbing her side.

“I could have given you everything, but now...,” he paused and took a step closer to Blake, “I’m going to destroy everything you love. You’ll pay for your betrayal with their blood, and only once you beg for death will I finally let you have it.”

Blake watched him with wide eyes.

Her mind instantly shot to her girlfriends, and she cursed herself for her stupidity.

She would never be free of him, and she had only brought his wrath down on the ones she loved.

She’d doomed them all.

Suddenly, Blake caught the sound of thundering footsteps behind Adam.

She glanced over his shoulder just in time to see Yang throw herself at the man, her gauntlet slamming against the back of his head.

Adam cried out in shock and Yang glared down at him, eyes flaring a bright red color.

“You’ll have to go through me first.”

Two bodies appeared in a flurry of red rose petals.

“And me,” Ruby said.

“And me,” Weiss echoed, tightening her grip on her rapier.

“Still having other people fight your battles, Blake? And a Schnee, at that. What are you, her favorite little pet?”

“She’s not having other people fight her battles,” Yang said immediately.

“It’s our battle,” Ruby added, transforming Crescent Rose into its sniper rifle form.

“Because when you love someone, their battles become your own, and yours become theirs,” Weiss finished, brandishing her rapier.

Blake’s pleas for them to run died in her throat.

She stood, raising her weapon beside her team, her girlfriends, the people she loved like nobody else.

“Are you alright?” Weiss asked, not taking her gaze off of Adam as he too stood, raising his sword.

“I am now,” Blake said.

This war would still be waged, and this fight would still have to be fought.

But it wasn’t hers alone, because they were here with her, and she would never have to fight on her own again.


	43. Almost There

Velvet was out of breath, and she didn’t know how much longer she could go on like this. She’d taken down several of the government Paladins that their enemies had taken control over, but even she could only fight for so long.

Coco and the rest of their team was helping her, along with a few various students from school that she didn’t recognize.

But her energy was getting low, alongside her aura.

She was panting and Coco put a hand on her shoulder, sunglasses slightly askew. Because of that, Velvet could see the concern in her caramel eyes.

“I’m fine,” she told her girlfriend, giving her a calming smile.

She raised her weapon again, this time in the form of Coco’s handbag, and turned toward the next Paladin.

But before she had the chance to attack, the loud sound of canons halted her, causing Velvet to roll her ears up in pain. The noise was deafening, and Coco immediately stepped up behind her, putting her hand’s over the faunus’ ears, watching for potential threat.

A moment later, a green blur settled down in front of them.

Penny landed softly, cautious of her fragile cargo.

She released her hold around Winter’s waist, allowing the other woman to step forward and join the fight.

Penny smiled almost excitedly, knives appearing from her back.

“Don’t worry, students! Help has arrived!” she said, striking the first Paladin with her sword.

Winter stared at her, a slightly fond smile on her face.

“Citizens, please follow me to an evacuation plane,” Winter said, gesturing for the students to follow her.

Coco reloaded her weapon, laughing.

“No way we’re missing out on this, right, Velv?”

The faunus nodded, taking a long look at Penny before copying the other girl’s weapons.

Penny seemed intrigued at the action, and made a mental note to ask Velvet about her unique weapon later.

“Always wanted to fight with a robot, anyways,” Coco said, smirking slightly.

“She has an aura,” Winter snapped, turning her attention from the evacuation for a moment to glare at Coco, who just laughed.

“My bad.”

Penny smiled broadly at Winter before turning back to the fight, doing her best to defend the students nearby.

-

“Don’t hit his sword, he draws power from it when it gets hit!” Blake cried.

“He gets power without having to feel it? That’s just lame,” Yang commented, striking at their opponent’s knee.

Adam blocked it with his sword, and Yang cursed.

Ruby came up behind him, slashing his back with Crescent Rose.

Weiss summoned a glyph under Blake’s path, allowing her to speed around Adam and strike him in the side.

“She’ll betray you. The first sign of trouble, and she’ll run. She’s got no sense of loyalty!” he cried.

Blake flinched.

Ruby raised her hand into the air, and Blake tossed her weapon at her without hesitation.

The team leader caught it, pulling the ribbon, still clutched in Blake’s hand, taut and raced forward through the use of her semblance.

Blake, still using Weiss’ glyphs, did the same, thing Adam up in the ribbons.

Weiss instantly shot forward, kicking at Adam’s hand and causing his sword to go skidding across the ground.

“What does she even see in you three?!” he cried out.

Yang turned her semblance on, slamming her fist against the back of Adam’s head.

He cried out in pain.

Blake thought it might have finally been over, but he struggled against the ribbons.

Ruby and herself pulled tightly on the ribbon, trying to keep him in place.

Weiss jabbed her rapier against his gut, making him once again scream in agony.

Adam struggles against the ribbons, throwing them off of himself.

He rushed forward toward his sword, but Yang was there first.

She threw herself into a barrel roll, standing up with the sword in her hands.

Her eyes flared red, her hair shining a brilliant shade of gold.

“She wouldn’t do the same for you,” he said.

Yang slammed her fist into the sword, shattering it into dozens of pieces that fell to the ground under her feet. The largest piece stayed in tact, situated just above Yang’s hand and still clutched in her right grip.

Adam stumbled to his feet, and, as if pulled by unseen force, each member of team RWBY raced forward, weapon raised.

Blake’s short sword cut through his chest, Yang stabbed him through the side of his stomach, Weiss’ rapier found a home in his abdomen, and Ruby’s scythe swung at an angle to embed itself in his spinal cord.

He gasped dramatically, struggling to draw a breath as he writhed pathetically.

The four girls withdrew their weapons, and Adam’s limp form toppled onto the ground, lifeless.

Blake breathes heavily, panting as she continued to hold her short sword in front of her defensively.

After a moment, she dropped to the ground on her knees, crying heavily.

“I’m not going to run, I promise,” she whispered.

Her girlfriends ran forward and dropped down beside her, holding onto her tightly.

“I’m not, I promise!” she cried loud as she could.

“We know, Blake,” Yang said comfortingly.

“Of course you won’t!” Weiss snapped. “Why would we ever listen to him anyways?!”

Blake chuckled through her tears.

Ruby leaned forward and wiped the tears from Blake’s eyes with gentle strokes.

“It’s alright, Blakey. We know you’re not going anywhere,” Ruby said comfortingly.

Blake took a deep breath and started to calm herself.

But, before the four girls could stand, there was a thundering roar as a giant Grimm landed in front of them, shaking the ground violently as it did.

The team jumped, attempting to scramble to their feet. But they were slow, and the beast was quickly advancing, nearly Blake the fastest. It was likely zeroed in on her due to her exceedingly negative emotions she’d been emanating with.

“Blake!” Ruby cried, attempting to put herself between her girlfriend and the rapidly approaching monster.

It was five meters away. Two meters. One meter. It was on top of her, mouth opened wide.

“BLAKE!” Ruby screamed, feeling a deep worry and sorrow filling her anyways.

Her eyes flowed bright gray and light shot from them, blinding her teammates.

When the light dissipated, the giant Grimm, which was bigger than any the four had ever seen, was frozen in place, appearing to be made of solid stone, mouth less than a centimeter from Blake’s head.

“What just happened?!” Weiss cried.

Nobody had an answer to her question, and the team was forced to evacuate the area as the sound of loud Grimm calls echoed toward them.

Blake gave Ruby a tight hug, whispering thanks in her ear, before pulling her girlfriend away from the frozen Grimm.

Ruby found she didn’t really care how it had happened, because Blake was safe.


	44. Questions

The fight was over not long after, and the students were evacuated, led by Winter and her helper, Penny.

Pyrrha was led out of the vault by Ozpin and Ilia, Jaune falling behind and watching his best friend and new girlfriend talk quietly.

Team RWBY was one of the last few to escape, and sat silently on the government issued plane together. Blake set her head on Yang’s shoulder, the blond wrapping her arms around the faunus’ waist and pulling her closer. Weiss and Ruby sat on either side of Blake, each grabbing one of her hands carefully. She quietly promised that she wouldn’t leave, and her girlfriends continuously told her that they believed her.

Outside the window, a small crow flew, watching closely.

Pyrrha quietly argued with Ozpin and the General, fighting for the right to stay enrolled in school. Ilia sat outside the room, fidgeting nervously on a plane she had no right to be on.

Velvet had fallen asleep against Coco’s shoulder, and the team leader was violently shushing their teammates and fellow students whenever they were too loud.

Several questions echoed in the minds of students.

Where was school going to take place now that Beacon was destroyed?

Where were they going?

And what had happened with Ruby’s eyes?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That’s the end of the first part of this story, but it’s far from over! I’m thankful for all of the positive response to the story, and I hope you guys will stick with it!


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